The Second Generation Book Two: Rise of the Phoenix
by SixthOfLorien
Summary: It's getting harder and harder to control, eating me up inside and burning through my soul- and if they're not careful, it will consume them as well with no way out . There will be no Earth to save, there will be no happy ending if I can't figure out a way to do the impossible . They will not control me . They will not catch me . After all, you cannot tame fire .
1. Captive

**~Hazel POV~**

* * *

A wheezed groan slipped past my lips as I shifted my body, letting my fingers roam over the thick, black silk sheets. I knit my eyebrows together, wincing at the bright sunlight illuminating the white room as I sat up in the King-sized bed, confusion washing over me. Wall-to-Floor windows covered the entire wall opposite of the bed, a large black wardrobe and matching English-style desk pressed against the wall to my left. Silk black curtains were wrapped around the black iron bedposts that sprouted from each corner of the bed frame.

A few raps on the door echoed through the room and my muscles tensed, my instincts kicking in before the large black door swung open and a small, frail, cream-colored woman with her grey hair tied into a French knot entered the room carrying a breakfast tray. She grinned at me, her wide lips parting as she motioned for me to scoot over. I did as I was told, curling up on the let side of the bed as she set the tray down on the right and sat down.

"You're up awful early for such a young lady," she commented, her high voice piercing. "Most of you teenagers will sleep like the dead if Dominus allows."

"Dominus? As in Dominus Creto?"

"Oh, girl, you'll do well not to say his name like that," the small woman laughed, handing me a glass of orange juice. "Well go on now, drink up. You've been asleep for days."

"Where am I at? And where's Anastasia?" I demanded, setting the juice down on the nightstand.

"The short-haired one they brought with you? She's fine, she's alright. She'll be just as confused as you have been, I imagine, although when I took her breakfast, she was snoring."

"What are we doing here?"

"They brought you, of course."

"Why would they bring us here? I wanna talk to who's in charge. I'm not staying. Not here."

I shoved the sheets away from my body and strutted over to the wardrobe, throwing open the doors and combing through the articles of clothing.

"We assumed you were about a size six." The nurse commented, watching me in amusement. I shot her a look before yanking on a pair of white jeans and a royal blue peasant blouse. I leaned against one of the tall windows, looking at the landscape outside.

"Where are the others? The two girls and three boys?"

"There were no others with you when you were found, Dear."

I breathed a sigh of relief. The other's hadn't been caught.

Tall, multi-colored mountains hung like blurs in the background, masses of colorful fall trees creating a sea of changing leaves several stories beneath the window. Several white marble buildings sprouted amongst the forest, pathways leading to each of them, all covered with bustling, uniformed students smiling and waving, weapons and bookbags strapped against their shoulders.

"Creto hates me," I said flatly, crossing the room and plopping down in front of the vanity, twisting my curls up into a ponytail. "Why is he buying me clothes?"

"He doesn't hate you, dear, he hates your circumstances."

"Excuse me?"

"Creto has a distaste for Downworlders, but has elected to allow a few of them into his housing due to their...talents."

"He likes what I can do."

"Everyone here likes what you can do, dear. You're quite famous if you weren't already aware."

"So when does he plan on killing me?"

"Killing? Are you able to be killed?"

"Can we stop playing the damn riddle game and just send me straight to him so we can speak?"

"I'm afraid not dear, he doesn't take too kindly to visitors. He's a busy man, you know."

"Yes, must be a tedious job, destroying lives and feeding on the souls of small children."

"If you don't have any classes today, I would assume you'd like to explore? Roam the castle a bit, take a poke around. I can wake your friend if you wish?"

"Classes?" I exclaimed, turning to face her. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Well of course not, dear!" She exclaimed, looking at me like I was stupid. "What else does one do at a boarding school?"

I watched her for a moment, unsure of whether or not she was serious.

I thought of Jamie. I thought of Aaron, and Lucy, I thought of all of them. I thought of the boy's beautiful bronze hair and the fact that I'd never kissed him, and now, thinking that I'd never see him again, it was all that I wanted to do. My fingertips brushed against my lips lightly before I turned back to the vanity and crossed my arms on the hard surface, laying my head down.

A hand squeezed my shoulder gently.

"Don't be afraid, dear," the woman whispered into my ear. "If anyone wanted you dead, you'd be dead by now. He would not have bothered to bring you here, to treat you well and keep you comfortable."

"Comfortable? He killed my bo-...he killed my friend's parents." I shot, my cheeks warm as I stared at her.

"He has killed many people in his quest to restore what is necessary to our government. Perhaps you ought to learn what is necessary instead of what you believe is right based on the way you feel."

"The way I feel is that no one deserves to die."

"Not even Dominus, then?"

I paused, biting the inside of my cheek with no answer. She raised an eyebrow at me and gave me a look before I sighed, leaning back in my seat.

"Suppose I don't put up a fight," I said slowly. "Suppose I stay here, and I learn, I go to class and all of that. What happens then? He just expects me to live here?"

"To live here, explore your talents, develop your gifts, you know as much."

"Gifts? I don't have any gifts. I mean...you already know what I can do. But I have no gifts."

"Oh my dear," she chuckled, shaking her head at me. "You have so much to learn. _Everyone here has gifts."_

I watched the old woman, searching for any type of deception in her eyes. There was none. _She could be under a spell, enchanted, _I thought to myself carefully. _She could be a fantastic liar. _I bit down on my lip and nodded at her.

"I should probably have a bite to eat, shouldn't I?" I asked sweetly. She nodded, grinning before leaving me with the food. The door shut behind her and I bolted to my feet.

I slid all of the foot off of the tray and shoved it out the windows, along with the orange juice. I clutched the metal tray in one hand and the glass in the other. I tried the doorknob, surprised when it opened easily, and peered out into the bright white corridor. _Jesus Christ,_ I thought bitterly. _There's no way in Hell you could hide in this place._

I ducked out of the room quickly, making it only a few feet before a pair of hands snatched at my shoulders. I yelped, swinging the tray backwards and connecting it with the jaw of my attacker.

"AH, GOD," Thomas shouted, clutching his face. "Jesus!" he sprawled out against the floor on his back, turning to his side.

"Oh my God! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I-wait, what the Hell are you doing here?" I demanded, raising the tray again in suspicion. Thomas raised his hands in defense, scooting away from me.

"The same thing you're doing here you crazy ass-"

"What? You mean they brought you here too?"

"Well, duh. After they started carrying you out, Stas went ape-shit and they grabbed her too. I had to follow, I wasn't gonna let them walk off with my chick."

I helped him to his feet, apologizing to him again.

"What are we doing here?"

"It's a school," Thomas shrugged. "They took our blood and analyzed it, had to figure out what species we were before they were gonna decide whether or not to kill us, but eventually they just gave me a dorm and a list of classes like nothing ever happened."

"And you didn't try to escape?"

"Of course I did, am I stupid? I've gotten my ass beat at least twenty times within the last three days. They said as long as I cooperate though, they'll leave me alone. They just want us to be good and go to class. As long as Stas is here and safe, I can't really complain."

"Complain?! We're surrounded by the enemy?!"

"Enemies would want us dead," he said plainly. "They just want us to go to school."

I tossed the tray aside and crossed my arms, sighing.

"Jamie and them will come for us."

"Yeah, if they can find the place. We're underwater."

"What do you mean we're underwater?" I looked through the window and up at the blue, clear sky.

"I mean they took us into a lake. We went underwater and poof-here we were. I've no idea how to get back, but I supposed that's why they're not worried about us escaping. It's because we can't."

"So what do we do?" I demanded in disbelief. Thomas shrugged, running a hand through his thick blonde hair. The light was casting a shadow across his straight, small nose, his wide, thin lips forming a tight line.

"Well, Stasi's asleep, so I guess there's really only one thing we can do. We gotta talk to Creto."

"Creto doesn't handle visitors, that's what the Nurse told me."

"He doesn't handle visitors unless they're causing trouble," he grinned, mischief spreading across his expression. "So trouble we will cause."


	2. Recruiting

**~Jamie POV~**

* * *

"You need to eat something," Heaven said softly, standing in the doorway of my bedroom. I stared up at the domed concrete ceiling, my breath thick and heavy as I put my hands behind my head. "You haven't left your room in days."

"I don't want to eat," I said flatly. "I want to find them."

Them. Her. Hazel. The girl that had seemingly appeared out of thin air onto my radar, and then just as quickly vanished. It was unfair. It was a tease. Were the angels playing some sort of cruel trick on me? It was like living your life in the darkness, only to have a small window of light appear at the top of the steps. Naturally, you start running towards it, grasping at it, hungry for it, and then the window is closed.

And you're alone in the dark again.

My heart was heavy. It was the first time I'd ever realized I truly had one.

We'd been at it for weeks. Hazel had gone missing mid-September, and I hadn't seen or heard anything about her ever since. We'd searched Silent City. We'd delved into rivers and under bridges and had exploded into every demon nightclub known to man. No one had seen Hazel. No one else thought she was still alive.

It was twisting my insides around, making me sick to my stomach. The fact that Anastasia had gone missing along with her made the situation no easier. I missed both of them. I needed both of them.

"Jamie, starving yourself isn't going to bring them home."

"I'm not hungry. Really."

Heaven sprawled out on the bed next to me, her light brown hair flopping over my arm as she sighed.

"I can feel everything you do, I think you've forgotten about that. Why are you cutting yourself?"

I clenched my jaw, stiffening next to her. I _had_ forgotten about that, her ability to detect every ounce of harm my body experienced. Was I supposed to tell her the truth? Suppose to explain that I'd broken down in the middle of the Training Room, thoughts of Hazel and Stasi and my parents overwhelming me as I sank to my exhausted knees and began digging into my own arms with dagger in frustration? The truth was, I was terrified.

Terrified that if I didn't take it out on myself, I'd be taking it out on somebody else.

"Just releases the tension, that's all." I growled.

"It's not healthy."

"None of this is healthy," I shot, looking at her. "What we do is sick. We train kids, legitimate teenagers, and then send them out into the world to fight and kill the creatures of Hell."

"We've made it this far, you need to have a little more faith."

"Not everyone is as good as we are." I answered gruffly.

It was true. No one was as good as us. From the beginning, the five of us had been picked out of the group and shoved together in one huge, misfit team that had turned into something beautiful. The way we fought together made a well-oiled machine bow its head in shame.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, sitting up and raising my knees to balance my elbows on them. The back of my eyes burned, and I quickly bowed my head, cracking my knuckles. Heaven put a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm gonna go talk to the others." I said quickly, pulling away from her and heaving myself off of the sheets. Ascending the large stone staircase, I heard Heaven slip off of the bed and follow quickly behind me, shutting my bedroom door behind her.

I pushed into the large, empty, corridor, other students watching me as I passed their classes, probably wondering why I wasn't joining them. Some of them, already well aware that Hazel was missing, gave me disgustingly pitying looks, others looking at me like I was insane.

"Slick gits." Heaven murmured, reminding me once again that she was English. I ran a hand through my hair, rounding a corner and closing my eyes for a moment as I walked. The cold air washed over my skin, raising goose bumps on my arms as I entered the dying courtyard.

The leaves were turning a dull brown color, preparing themselves for bright orange and red and pink pigments, hints of green still lingering on their bodies. The stone angel in the center of the fountain watched me warily as I passed him, water trickling down his body and pooling at his large feet. There was something eery about the way his eyes seemed to follow you when you walked.

"And where are we going at this hour?" Aaron asked, squinting against the setting sun behind me as he pushed himself from his leaning position against one of the courtyard columns. He closed the book in his hand, stuffing the other in his pocket.

"Since when do you read?" I countered. He shrugged, falling in step with us.

"Hazel gave it to me. I miss her. And besides...Johanna likes boys that read."

"Does she now?" Heaven quipped, raising her eyebrows. "We couldn't possibly be talking about Johanna Michaels, could we?"

"Evan's sister?" I mused, grinning at him as we rounded a corner.

"The one with the green eyes." Aaron scratched his jaw, ignoring my teasing. I rolled my eyes.

"'Tis the season to fall in love." I sighed, biting my thumb. Aaron wrinkled up his face.

"I'm sorry, Jamie...I wasn't thinking."

"Thinking about what?" I said quickly, raising my eyebrows. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"About Ha-"

"You should invite her to dinner sometime or something," I continued. "Have her meet Simon."

Simon, who was now acting as the head of the Brooklyn Institute after the loss of Hodge Starkweather.

"Yeah," Aaron said slowly, watching me with weary eyes. "Maybe I'll do that."

We pushed open the large double doors of the Library, Simon turning his head away from a lecture board with a heavy book in one hand. Isabelle was curled up in one of the lush leather seats, Ella snuggled up into her lap as her aunt read to her.

"Morning, pretty girl." I murmured, kissing the top of Ella's curly head. She grinned at me, her green eyes sparkling just the way my mother's had before she died. Another curdle rippled through my stomach, and the room swayed for a moment.

"Jamie," Simon said in surprise, raising his eyebrows. He set his book down quickly, adjusting his glasses. "H-How are you? I mean have you...how are you doing?"

"Have you found anything?" I asked pointedly to Luke, who looked worse than I probably did. His hair had gone completely gray at this point, the heavy bags under his eyes drooping down to the middle of his nose.

"Nothing yet," he said sleepily, rubbing his face. "But I've had the packs out patrolling every single night Jamie, we _will _find them."

"If they're not already dead." Darren commented sharply, leaning against a set of iron bars as his feet dangled above us from the banister. He kicked his legs through the air lazily, watching us from the upper level of the Library. I shot him a glare that made him wince slightly, drawing away from our crowd.

"We will find them, Jamie..alright? Look at me." I did as I was told, my eyes drifting to Heaven, clenching my jaw to hold back my anger. "We'll find them."

"There's only one person in the Clave that cares about Hazel and Stasi as much as we do," I looked at her evenly, praying she'd hear me out. "There's only one place we can go to get help."

Heaven took a deep breath, knowing full-well that it was a bad idea. After we'd destroyed the Accords Hall, Pluemon had made it incredibly clear that our presence wasn't exactly favored. Isabelle looked up at me for a moment with sad eyes, tears threatening to run down her cheeks before she promptly sniffed and began reading again to my little sister.

"You can't go back now, not with the investigation underway," Luke argued. "Half of them still believe the attack on the Accords was Hazel's fault. They don't know whose side she's on."

"That's irrelevant," I said with confidence. "If anything, Byron will want to help us more than anyone. He loved her, I could tell. He has faith in her."

"Do you?" Simon whispered, chewing on his tongue. "Even if they are alive, what makes you think they'll last long?"

"Simon!" Isabelle hissed, staring at him wide-eyed. "We're talking about our _daughter-"_

"All I'm saying is that I don't want some sense of false hope-"

"You know what they say about hope." Luke muttered darkly.

"It breeds eternal misery." Simon finished crossing his arms.

"I've had enough of this." Isabelle spat, snapping the book closed and yanking Ella out of the room. I watched as she slammed the door shut behind one of them, Simon sighing and leaning against the table.

"We can't even look at each other anymore without arguing." he groaned. For once, I felt sorry for him.

And I never feel sorry for anyone.

"Listen, I'm not asking anyone to come with me," I started, crossing my arms. They all looked at me, some of Luke's pack members turning away. "I understand the trouble Hazel's caused since she got here and I can only promise you that the trouble will continue whether we find her or not. Now I would hope that if any one of us went missing, Anastasia would bend over backwards to find us. I will do the exact same for her."

"I'm with you." Heaven murmured, standing up next to me, her voice and expression even. I smiled at her.

"So am I." Aaron sighed, rolling his eyes. "You all need me and you know it."

"Guess that counts us in too." Darren agreed, swinging down from the banister and landing dramatically on one of the tables, his boots crunching at a few book pages. Two of Luke's pack members, a dark girl with large brown eyes and full lips stood up, nearly towering over Darren with her long legs. She pushed her short, choppy bangs out of her face and sighed.

"The name's Nihada. And I'm coming too. I met Maia a few days before she died. I was only six, and my parents loved her. She was a good person and I'm going to assume her daughter is, too."

"Antonio." The man said flatly, crossing his arms over his large chest. He was broad-shouldered, but not nearly as thick as Aaron, and stood at an average six feet. He had a sharp, long nose that hooked slightly at the end and thin upper lip, the bottom pushing out from underneath it. He looked some sort of Hispanic, and a scar ran from his left temple all the way down his jaw. I nodded briefly at both of them as they moved to our sides, Luke watching approvingly.

"You may go," he said strictly, watching them. "But be careful."

Lucy was shaking her head, biting her lip as she stared at the floor.

"I can't go."

"What do you mean you can't go?" Heaven demanded, staring at her in disbelief.

"Heav, I can't go against the Clave. Darren and I are already looked down enough as is-"

"And he's agreeing to come because he knows we need him!" Heaven cried. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. This was the first time I'd ever seen her yell in her entire life. "Just like we need YOU! You're the quickest second to Jamie and I've never seen anybody catch you!"

"Heava-"

"I don't want to hear it, you have to come."

They stared at each other for a moment, Heaven pleading with her eyes as Lucy sighed. Reluctantly, she pulled one of her Sai blades from her back and shoving it into the wood of the desk.

"Fine," she said loudly. "I'm coming with you. But if anything goes bad, if I get scared..."

"Feel free to run like a coward." Nihada murmured, one eyebrow raised as Lucy's lip quivered.

"Great," I smiled, leaning against the Portal. "Then get ready. We're going to Idris."


	3. Legend

**~Hazel POV~**

* * *

It took us twenty minutes to find out which room was Stasi's and when we finally swung the door open, we found her dangling out of the window, half naked, with a rope made of bed sheets slung around her waist.

"What the Hell are you doing?" I asked, trying not to laugh as I folded my arms in front of my chest.

"I am TRYING to-Oh my God!" She looked up at me wide-eyed, quickly pulling herself through the broken window, now laying on the floor on her stomach, her legs still dangling. "You're alive! Holy shit you're alive! And YOU!" She looked at Thomas, her dark eyes growing wide. "YOU'RE ALIVE TOO! OH MY GOD, GUYS THIS IS SO GREAT," she scrambled to her feet, slipping on the bed sheet and tumbling into the dresser. I burst into laughter as the drawers spilled out on top of her, one knocking her in the head as she continued rambling as if nothing had ever happened. "God and here I thought I was alone, I was so scared, I thought they killed you guys!"

Thomas heaved her to her feet and shut her up with a kiss. I felt sick to my stomach, quickly turning away as Jamie's face flashed through my mind. Thomas brushed Stasi's hair out of her face, holding her sculpted jaw in his hand.

"So what's the plan?" she asked, flickering her eyes between the both of us. "How are we gonna get out of here?"

"That's the thing," I said, plopping down onto her stripped bed, putting my arms behind my head. " I already tried, and so has Thomas. There's no point. We're underwater."

"But I-"

"Stop looking at the sky, it will only confuse you more," I laughed. "We're staying."

"Staying? How the Hell do you expect us to stay when everyone wants us dead?"

"If they wanted us dead, wouldn't they have killed us already?"

"Maybe they want a real dramatic ending," Stasi guessed. "Maybe they're trying to trick us."

"If they are, we have no other option than to go along with it. They could be listening to us right now and there's nothing we could do."

Stasi looked around the room suspiciously, clenching her jaw.

"So what _can _we do?"

"We need to talk to Creto." Thomas said as began looking for her desk chair, needing a place to sit.

"Don't bother, I threw it out the window." Stasi murmured, plopping herself onto the desk. Thomas smiled at her lightly before taking a seat at her side.

"We need to make a scene. Make enough of a disturbance that we get taken to Creto," he continued. "If we only start a mild brawl or something, we get taken to Ms. Vivian."

"Vivian?" I asked. Thomas wrinkled his nose.

"She's a real ugly lady. I mean, not on the outside, but on the inside. Shes all chubby and stubby and mean."

"You sound like a four year old." Stasi teased. Thomas rolled his eyes.

"I'm forreal! She's a pain in the ass! She's head of punishment and she takes her job hella serious."

"Hella?"

"SUPER serious, my bad, I forgot you were white."

"You're white too, dumbass..."

"WHATEVER, my point is that she's this real cruel old hag and the last time I got in trouble I got lashed at."

"You mean with a real whip?!"

"She carries it around with her all the time, and it stings like Hell. Literally, it stings. It turns into some sort of snake or something."

"That's disgusting."

"Exactly, which is why we need to avoid her. We need to make this big. Like, epic."

"What are we going to do that's bad enough to get us sent to the Dominus?"

"Well...we could always try to burn the place down."

"A lovely thought, but I can barely radiate my flames all over my body." I said apologetically, shrugging.

"Maybe you haven't tried hard enough," Stasi suggested. "I started reading up on Heavenly Fire the morning we went to Idris a few weeks ago. They've got so many books it's insane, like they're keeping all the good stuff in Alicante and it's not even fair. They have books I've never even heard of."

"What'd you find?" Thomas asked, genuinely interested. I watched the both of them curiously, picking up on the way he moved around her, paying her every ounce of attention she wanted.

They were the perfect couple. He needed to be led, and told what to do, and he would follow you to the ends of the Earth as long as you loved him. Stasi _did _love him, and she needed someone to lead, to tell what to do, and to have follow her anywhere. They were practically made for each other.

"Just a bunch of old legends, but the only one that stuck out was the Love of Nathaniel."

I snuggled deeper onto the bed, grabbing a pillow and tucking it underneath me.

"The story goes that he had in fact fallen in love with a human even though they never had a legitimate child. When they tried to sleep together, she was burned at his very touch. He tried to have her ascend. He knew he couldn't ask God to take her to heaven, it was against His Law, so he tried to make her life a short one."

"How romantic." I quipped. Stasi made a face at me.

"You know, you sound like Jamie more and more every day," she said flatly, smirking. I rolled my eyes as she started again. "Anyways, when people die, they sometimes go to Heaven."

"Did she?"

"Nope," Stasi popped the 'P'. "Unfortunately she wasn't as good of a soul as Nathaniel hoped. She went straight to the Underworld."

"Jesus..." Thomas murmured.

"Yeah, she should've listened to that guy."

"So what happened after that, what's the point?"

"Nathaniel went to the Underworld. It's almost unbearable for an Angel to be down there. It burns the tips of their wings, makes their blood boil. But he went anyways, because he loved her. When he got there, his only goal was to make her immortal. That's all that needs to happen to get you out of Heaven or Hell."

"That's it?"

"Mhmm. Don't sound so excited, the idea is more seductive than the reality. Once you're immortal, you literally live forever until someone ends you. You don't go to Heaven _or _Hell, you can stay on Earth, but that's only until the Apocalypse comes, and no one really knows when God plans to do that whole sha-bang."

"What did the Angel do?" Thomas asked, his eyes wide and child-like as he listened.

"He kissed her. One, single, immortalizing kiss made of heavenly fire. It turned her into a monster. Once she was blessed with the fire, it went rampant on her body. It's the same as trying to Mark a Mundane or a demon, they can't handle runes and they can't handle angelic gifts. She went insane and the Fire turned her into some kind of raging beast."

"Isn't it supposed to protect you?"

"Depends on who 'you' is. The Fire is like...an organism. A living, breathing organism. When it's intertwined with your blood, it becomes a part of you. You're like it's host. It breathes as you do, thrives as you do, suffers as you do. And so it's likely that it feels as you do, too. She became angry when Nathaniel told her he couldn't take her to Heaven. She was furious, actually, and when the fire consumed her soul it was like a raging beast."

"That doesn't seem very fair."

"The legend goes that the fire chooses. It alone will decide whether or not you're worthy of it's submission, and it's never gone down like that in History. The only reason Nathaniel can control it is because he's the creator, but even he had a hard time taming his crazy ex-girlfriend."

"She must've torn the world a part..."

"She tried to," Stasi shrugged. "Nathaniel had to slaughter her."

"How?"

"You know, fight fire with fire. Literally. The only thing that could put her out was to set her heart on fire. So he killed her, cut it out, and set it ablaze. He boiled her blood in Lake Lyn, and that's why the sunsets in Idris are red, not orange."

"Well that was dramatic." Thomas sighed. I raised my eyebrows and nodded.

"So you think if I give this fire thing some leniency it'll become more powerful?"

"Yeah. And I think Creto thinks that as well, that's why he's opted to keep us alive. He knows you won't help him if we're dead. And he knows what you're capable of."

"Let's give this bad boy a shot, then!" Thomas cheered, jumping to his feet. I bit my lip and stood as Stasi began picking out clothes from her wardrobe and complaining that the Purified Ones needed styling tips.

"Alright," I sighed, looking down at the courtyard. "Time to make a scene."


	4. Help Needed

**City of Bones OST- Clary's Theme**

**~Jamie POV~**

* * *

I landed easily on my feet, the leaves on the forest floor crunching underneath my boots as wind zipped past my face. The Portal sucked itself shut behind us, Aaron and Lucy trying to untangle themselves from the ground, grumbling about it not being fair that they were still getting thrown on their asses.

"Easy," I chided. "You almost make Hazel look graceful."

Aaron snorted and rolled his eyes, heaving Lucy to her feet. We started on wordlessly, the hole in my chest churning itself deeper and deeper towards my heart.

I had said her name. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't, hoping it would make the distance easier, but it had turned out that pretending she didn't exist was worse than acknowledging she was gone. I bit my lip, ducking under a thick branch.

_This is why we're here, _I encouraged myself. _This is why we've come all this way. To bring her home. To bring her back. To keep her with you. _Aaron and Lucy began arguing behind me about whose fault landing on the ground had been as Heaven jogged up to my side.

"Bit tense?" She teased, nudging me. I smiled lightly at her.

"Me? Nervous? Never."

"I never said nervous." she whispered, giving me a look. I bit down on my lip again, knowing full well that lying to her was pointless. I didn't quite know what I was thinking when I chose her to be my _parabatai. _It was an irrational decision, one that I'd made simply to spite Hazel so that she could never take that role in my life, but I had never really thought out what it meant to have someone feel what you felt, see what you see, hurt how you did. It was too personal a feeling, even if I loved Heaven, I didn't want her to know so much about me.

Heaven was one of the greatest fighters I'd ever seen. She wasn't the quickest, or the strongest, but she was confident. She had a deadly pride about herself that never faltered even in the face of our greatest enemies, which, in turn, made her one of the most dangerous Shadowhunters I knew.

Although I knew she was good, I also knew she wasn't as good as I was. Often times my stating of fact had been mistaken for pride, and instead of correcting everyone who'd chosen to write me off as an arrogant son-of-a-bitch, I let them think what they wanted and allowed my skill to do the talking.

I was amazing. I was unreal, truthfully, but unlike Lucy or Aaron or Darren or Heaven, I hadn't been trained to be great. I had been born for it.

Since I was a child my pride and refusal to lose at anything had shaped me into a warrior. All the nights spent in the Training Room, all those hours my Father had spent drilling in technique after technique- it was all polishing. The raw talent, the pure desire to kill and maim and conquer had already been there, he'd just fashioned it into something useful.

But that's not the point, and I don't want to get into that right now.

The point was that Heaven, being my _parabatai, _was impossible to lie to. It was odd to have someone so close, almost molding themselves into a piece of you. What would it feel like when she was gone? I knew it would happen at some point. It was inevitable.

If the prophecies were true, if the legends were all real, I'd be sent on a life-journey that pent me up against the most dangerous creatures in Hell and on Earth. It meant I'd be facing opponents that only I, the greatest, could manage to get by.

Heaven was not the greatest.

And she was still bound to follow me everywhere, and fight at my side. I would lose her. This much I knew. _Just add another name to the list of people you've gotten killed,_ I thought bitterly.

I shrugged the thoughts out of my mind, trying to pretend they hadn't been my own as Gladney Manor came into view, Byron's bright witchlights shining from every window.

"He sure manages to stay chipper." Darren grumbled as we crossed the lawn, several of Gladney's guards eying us.

I rapped several times on the large iron door, sighing with impatience as Byron's heavy footsteps echoed from inside.

"Well if it isn't little Jamie," the old man said somberly, immediately alerting my senses. "What brings you back to Alicante?"

"What's wrong?" Heaven asked immediately, knitting her eyebrows together. "You look like someone's just killed your dog."

Byron looked down at the ground before moving aside and gesturing us into the house wordlessly.

We entered in obedience, my fingers closing subtly around the hilt of my dagger. My eyes roamed the room quickly, searching for any kind of threat willing to make itself present. The great old house seemed as silent as the surface of Lake Lyn at midnight.

I followed my team into the large Sitting Room, the fireplace roaring and hissing as Byron clinked the tip of a liquor bottle to the rim of a glass.

"We need your help." I said quickly, refusing to waste time.

"I'm afraid the aid you seek from me will be quite useless, young Shadowhunters," Byron started gravely, taking a heavy swig of the Bourbon. "My authority has been quite limited since the incident in the Accords Hall."

"Limited? You're the highest leader of our government, they can't limit you!" Lucy cried, throwing her arms up and sinking into an arm chair. Byron laughed lightly, shaking his head before taking another drink. Heaven and I exchanged weary glances.

"It seems, Little One, that they can. I haven't left the manor in weeks."

"He's been charmed," Aaron whispered into my ear quickly, breezing behind me as if he'd never meant to bump into me. "I can smell it on him."

I appraised the old man with watchful eyes, catching the way his eyelids drooped over misty iris's that didn't seem to quite see. Byron looked as though he were confused and sleepy all at once, like a grizzly bear that had just woken from hibernation. His beard had grown thicker, rowdy even, his usually pink cheeks paling to an off-white. Something was wrong with him.

"Hazel's gone missing," Lucy said quickly, hurrying to get to the point. "We need your help, Mr. Gladney. We can't find anything. No clues, no tips, nothing."

The old man didn't answer. Just stared endlessly into the bottom of his near-empty glass.

"Byron...what's going on? What's happened since we've left?" Heaven asked, placing her hand over his glass and forcing it gently to the table. Byron looked at her as if he'd just now noticed she'd been in the room.

"You will not find Hazel," he said gruffly, looking to me with stern eyes. "Because we already have."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded. The words had flown out of my mouth before I could stop them, a strange fury boiling up into the pit of my stomach and shooting out like a flame.

What in the Hell was wrong with me? A ringing started in my ears and Heaven watched me with knit eyebrows, her face filled with worry. She could feel it.

"Her body," Byron said easily, waving around his glass as if it were old news. He swiped the alcohol bottle from the table and took another large swig before refilling his drink. "Her body was found in Brocelind Forest a few days ago. Hazel's been dead for a week now."


	5. Numb

**Lola Jesus- Skin**

* * *

"No." I gripped the edge of the table, my fingernails cutting into the wood as I tried to steady myself, my eyes burning furiously as I stared at Byron, who was still chugging the rum. The old man set the bottle down and licked his lips, glancing up at me apologetically. "No...no...no..."

"Would I lie to you?"

"You have to be," I spat, lunging for him. Aaron gripped my arms tightly, pulling me against his body. Even though he was about three times my size, his strength couldn't match the amount of fury pinning itself up inside of my soul. "She isn't... TELL ME THE TRUTH!" I struggled against Aaron's hold, Byron watching me lazily as if I couldn't easily tear him limb from limb.

I could feel the world start to evaporate around me, some kind of searing, jerking pain sprouting in my chest and tearing it apart from the inside. Please, God, whoever, the Angels, somebody...no.

All the man did was watch as I struggled furiously, heat coursing through my body as I sank to the ground, a mixture between a growl and a scream escaping my lips as I pulled from Aaron in frustration. "TELL ME THE TRUTH!"

"By the Angel does no one have an ounce of respect any longe-" We all turned, my head jolting towards the door as Inquisitor Pluemon strode into the large room, and irritated expression washing over his sharp features.

"TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO HAZEL!" I demanded shrilly, Aaron still tugging at my arms. The Inquisitor raised an eyebrow at me smugly, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"So they've broken the news?" he drawled in mock sympathy, sticking his lower lip out slightly. "My, I did hope you wouldn't have to find out like this. And so soon after the death of your-"

"That's enough," Heaven snapped quickly, her eyes blazing. "You tell us what happened to Hazel or we tear this place to the ground."

"A threat to a member of the Counsil? And here I thought you were smarter than that. You'll do well to remember your place, _child,"_ Pluemon spat, grimacing at her in disgust. "I'm sure you'd hate to embarrass your Father even more than you already have." Heaven flinched, her fingertips twitching near the hilt of her bow. It took all of her self-control not to whip it out and shoot the man square in the face.

"Please," Lucy begged, shaking her head as tears streamed down her ruddy face. "Please tell us what happened."

Darren was shaking his head too, staring at the ground like he couldn't believe what was going on as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"I don't believe you," I shot quickly, the fire still burning through my chest. "I don't believe any of it."

The Inquisitor strode over to Byron and placed his hand over the Counsils cup, lowering it to the table in a silent warning that he'd had enough to drink. Byron obeyed easily, shrugging and sinking into a chair. I narrowed my eyes at them as the Inquisitor trailed a finger around the rim of the glass.

"Would you like to see the body?"

Everything in the world grew still. Aaron's grip on me slackened, but all of the sudden it'd felt like all the strength had left my body. I was in no position to fight, even when I had the opportunity. Heaven was staring at Pluemon like he'd just shot a child, her fingers now clutching the end of her bow so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MI-"

"Yes." I shot quickly, looking up at the man and interrupting my friend. Heaven looked at me in bewilderment, her mouth agape. I bit the inside of my cheek so hard that I tasted blood. "I need to see it."

The Inquisitor looked down at the table and tried to hide a smirk that made my stomach turn. He sniffed and gathered himself together dramatically before walking past us and out of the door. Immediately, I scrambled to my feet, the others calling out behind me as I followed Pluemon through the wide double doors of Gladney Manor and out of the door.

He was silent as we strode down the white cobblestone walkways of the city, fellow Shadwohunters either staring at me in sympathy or avoiding my eyes all together.

"Jamie," Heaven whispered into my ear sharply. I didn't reply, my eyes focused on the man in front of me as he lead us towards _Centre Hospitalis, _injured Shadowhunters and Downworlders pouring in and out of the building as we walked towards it. "Jamie." Heaven tried again. I allowed her a sideways glance.

"None of this is right. None of it. How is it that everyone in Alicante seems to know about Hazel's death but no one told us? They all knew she was a part of our team, as soon as a Shadowhunter dies their team are the first people to be alerted. Don't you think that's odd?"

"At the moment thinking isn't something I'd like to overdo." I snapped shortly. Heaven bit her lip, shaking her head.

"All I'm saying is that Byron was acting really we-"

"All _I'm _saying is that if Hazel's dead, Byron will be the LEAST of Alicante's problems."

Heaven stopped in her tracks, staring at me with Aaron chewing on his lip behind her. What had just happened? I'd never made a threat to my team seriously or any other Shadowhunter that was undeserving, but here I was, ready to burn down an entire city if what Pluemon said was true. I didn't know this feeling. I didn't know this fury that fed me the desire to destroy everything cherished in this world because the one thing I'd begun to care about was supposedly dead.

I followed the Inquisitor into the glass building, Healers chattering with nurses and patients and orders being shouted across the large inner halls. Stretchers were being pushed across the marble floor, families and children covered in band-aids being reunited joyfully. The sun seemed to darken in the Alicante sky. Pluemon slinked his way down corridor after corridor, leading us down a few flights of steps until we were so far underground that the wolves wouldn't have been able to sniff us out if we smelled like week-old skunk.

Pluemon nodded at the Healers who worked their way around the Morgue's wing, each of them staring at us gravely as we made our way past them. The Inquisitor nodded at a tall, lanky man with glasses and a beaky like nose, who opened a door for us into the Autopsy Room. Cold air washed over my body, goosebumps raising along the length of my arm as I took in the smell of sadness and formaldehyde. My eyes stayed unfocused on the floor as my team filed into the large white room, each of them poking around and searching for any threats, their faces red and teary. I was the only one who wasn't crying. I was the only one who had wanted the truth to be shoved into my face so hard that I had no choice but to believe it was true.

"Such an odd thing, to see a Herondale boy in love," Pluemon murmured into my ear slyly. I kept my eyes trained on the young assistant who began flipping through a ring of keys, walking over to one of the body drawers. "To see fury take the place of sadness," I clenched my jaw. "You know they say your Father never cried as a man."

I looked at him finally, meeting his dark, soulless eyes.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He challenged softly, almost playfully. "Are you a man, Jamie Herondale?"

I didn't answer, just watched him for the few moments of silence that took place before a small click and a series of jangling echoed through the quiet room, followed by the sliding of metal on a track. My eyes drug themselves across the floor, my teeth grinding as the assistant slid Hazel's brown, lifeless body out into the open.

All the air in my body seemed to leave at once. Lucy turned away and wailed. Heaven buried her face in Lucy's hair, holding her as Darren clenched his jaw, forcing himself to look. Aaron kept his eyes on the floor. He didn't want to see her.

My feet seemed to move on their own accord, dragging across the floor numbly towards the dead girl on the table. My fingers trailed lightly across the metal as my eyes ran up her pale, beaten, bruised legs covered in blood, her blueish-purple torso, the thin white sheet they had covered her body with for modesty purposes. I touched the tips of her freezing fingers with mine, the cold shooting a chill up my spine. I wasn't angry anymore at the sight of her lifeless face.

I was numb.

I was hollow.

I was hurting.

And I didn't know if I preferred to be furious or empty.

Nothing seemed to make sense any more.

Being the Greatest Shadowhunter of All Time.

Conquering dozens of women.

Outlasting the oldest of legends.

None of it mattered after this.

There was nothing I cared about after the death of Hazel Roberts.


	6. Causing A Scene

**Sum 41-Hell Song**

**~Hazel POV~**

* * *

"GO!" Thomas screamed, shoving Anastasia through the sea of people. Students and Soldiers were shooting us confused looks, everyone screaming and dodging out of the way as we shot past them, several of Creto's Guards following closely behind. "Hazel, NOW!"

I changed directions, breaking off of our trio and steering clear to the right. People in the courtyard watched me in awe and disbelief as I leaped over a couple making out in the grass. _Focus, _I told myself sternly, suddenly well aware of how badly I wanted to kiss Jamie. _Focus, now._

The tips of my fingers began to hum dully, heat sprouting in my chest and trickling down my arm like water. My palm was buzzing, glowing a bright golden color until finally flames began to lick at the skin surrounding my hand. I looked over my shoulder, my heart leaping as I saw how closely the guards were following.

One of the men I had recognized instantly, the six-foot-five buzzed-cut Army General of Creto's whose tattoo stuck out darkly against his red fighting gear.

"Stop her! Stop her now!"

And to think this had all started out with a fake couple's argument.

Stasi and Thomas had been screaming at each other in the Courtyard for five entire minutes, complete with tears, the stomping of feet, and some very rude name-calling.

"ALL I'M SAYING IS THAT YOU'VE GAINED A COUPLE POUNDS, IT'S NOT SOMETHING TO BE ASHAMED OF."

"ASHAMED OF?" Stasi had screamed. "YOU LOOK LIKE THE PILSBURY DOUGHBOY AFTER HIS PRIME, AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO COMMENT ON MY WEIGHT?"

"I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I'M IN GREAT SHAPE."

"THOMAS, YOU'RE FUCKING CIRCULAR."

"AND CIRCULAR IS A SHAPE, IS IT NOT?!"

"I can't deal with you, you're making a scene."

"OH? I'M MAKING A SCENE? YOU WANT ME TO MAKE A SCENE?" That was the point at which Thomas had stripped, and began running half naked through the corridors, the soldiers and several students trying to capture him as Stasi began throwing rocks at windows. It had taken us twenty minutes to meet back in the front corridors, and now that the soldiers knew what we were up to, we were in for a rough ride.

I spread my fingers out as I ran, running the tips of them across every available surface. Everything I touched caught fire, marble and stone melting at my heat as I sprinted through the courtyard and down into the forest. A blonde girl swatted at me as I weaved behind her, knocking all of the books out of her hand.

In only fifteen minutes of time, Thomas, Stasi and I had committed the following crimes:

Trashing an entire library, leaving endless amounts of paper either charred or torn to bits.

Scarring several students mentally and emotionally due to Thomas' lack of pants.

Destroyed many of the "Ancient Heirlooms of the PureBlood Society" in the left wing.

Stolen Ms. Vivians bleach-stained, dirty, moose-sized bra and hung it on the Statue of David, the stone angel in the front school entryway who was now missing his penis thanks to Anastasia, and last but not least...

Banging on the walls with several pots and pans that had been stolen from the kitchen workers and screaming "Creto's Got A Great Bum" throughout the entire school.

I broke across the stone courtyard of the school, the trees in plain sight as I made the transition from school building to forest floor. The trees were thick and extremely tall here, each heavy-barked with roots twisting and turning throughout the entire forest floor.

Lake Nyl, with it's glittering, black water, made an appearance in my peripheral vision as I sped past it. Fire spread from my fingertips to my elbows, traveling up to my shoulders and chest and then cascading down like water in a fountain. The pine needles underneath my feet began to sizzle as I sprinted amongst the trees, flame blazing behind me like a wild flower.

I collided with the body of a tall, tan boy with dark hair that curled around his ears and dark brown eyes. We tumbled across the forest floor and I rolled on top of him, the heat of me beginning to singe his clothes. He raised an eyebrow at me, flashing me a brilliant smile before pecking me quickly on the lips. He rolled me off of him and I watched him, dazed and stunned for a moment before he heaved me to my feet and shoved me back towards the trees.

"What the Hell are you waiting for?" he demanded, grinning at me. "Go!"

I sprinted.

I'd spread so much fire that my head began to hurt, a new feeling washing over me that I hadn't quite experienced before. My body wasn't tiring, in fact it felt like I could run for hours, but there was an uncomfortable numbing feeling washing over my mind that I couldn't quite place. Students lounging amongst the trees screamed and scrambled to their feet, trying to dodge the fire as it spread across the heavy thick forest. My mind was hazy, foggy, and it felt like I could barely comprehend what was going on five feet in front of me. I slowed down, covering my ears with my hands as a shrill, high, ringing shot through my hearing and sent a searing pain slicing down the center of my body.

I could fee the General's large calloused hands clasp down onto my shoulders and yank away quickly, the weight of him buckling my knees and sending me to the ground. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to shake off the splitting pain in my mind as several of the Soldiers tried to grab a hold of some part of my body, jerking away quickly at the heat of my skin. I fell into the dirt and pine needles, curling into a fetal position as the flames burned themselves out around me, the pain quickly residing as it came.

The tip of a blade tapped the underside of my chin, prompting me to look up into the General's icy blue eye, the other covered by a thick eye patch.

"You're more trouble than you're worth, parasi-"

"But the Dominus-"

"QUIET yourself, larvae," The General spat, glaring at the young soldier who had dared to oppose him in front of the others. "Will you learn your place and return to it or shall I have to teach you once more?"

"Hedley," another soldier hissed. The woman was tall and had a strong, thick body, her muscles showing clear through her leather fighting gear. Her short hair was cropped close to her face in a pixie cut, the black color of her locks contrasting with her bright green eyes. "Creto said he wants her alive."

Immediately, the General shoved his sword back into his sheath, bowing his head at the woman who had ordered him to cease. I spat at his feet, earning myself a hard kick in the gut.

"ENOUGH," a loud, thick voice echoed through the trees. "Quiet yourselves."

Everyone- student, soldier, and general, stopped what they were doing, moving aside so that a tall, thick man with white-blonde shiny hair and crimson eyes could make his way to me in the center of the crowd. I squinted my eyes, features of the old man I'd seen before barely visible in this new, youthful face.

"Creto?" I whispered, studying him.

"You will do well to NEVER speak his na-"

"I said _enough, _Hedley," Creto said gently, raising a hand at his General. "We could not simply expect the young one to be happy with her new circumstances." he extended the raised hand to me, an offer to pull me to my feet. "And she may call me whatever she likes."

I spat on the ground at his feet, refusing his hand and helping myself upwards.

"Cut the bullshit." I hissed. "We all know you think I'm a disgusting heathen so why not just kill me and get it over with?" I was startled by my own bravery, but it was the only thing I could think that Jamie would do were he in my position, and Jamie was the strongest person I knew. If I was going to make it out of this alive, I'd have to act as he would.

"Mouthy brat." Hedly grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Mouthy? No. We'll call her spirited." Creto grinned warmly, folding his hands.

"She's rebellious. She's disobedient."

"She's amazing." I turned my head to the tall, tanned boy as he pushed through the crowd, folding his arms over his chest and beaming at me like a proud Father. Creto flickered his eyes between the two of us.

"Amazing indeed." He agreed slyly. "I do believe you and your friends staged this to get my attention?"

"Something like that." I muttered as the soldiers guided me behind the man, who was now walking back towards the school. I stared at his new crop of silky blonde hair, wondering how he'd managed to melt his body back to where it'd been twenty years before his actual age.

"Good," he boomed, a smile in his voice. "Now you have it."


	7. Negotiations

**I'd just like to thank those who are Reviewing. I know I don't have many reviews but sometimes when I don't feel very inspired the stories get put on hiatus and then I come back to such nice comments and it makes me want to continue the tales!**

**With Love, Hazel(:**

* * *

"Did you really think you could escape?" Creto asked. It wasn't a question of mockery, no hint of condescending in his voice. It was an honest, true, question, and as he perched himself on the edge of his desk in front of all three of us, Stasi crossed her arms over her chest.

"Can't blame us for trying." She grumbled. Creto laughed lightly to himself and shook his head, pouring himself a drink. He offered the bottle to Thomas, who shrugged and took it, gulping down a heavy swig. Stasi swatted him on the back of the head, snatching the bottle from his hands and slamming it down on the table.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?!" She hissed at him before turning back to Creto. "We don't want your lies and we DON'T want your fancy fucking drinks, we want to get the Hell out of here."

"How do you know what you want?" he cried defensively, raising his glass in defense. "You've only been here for a week, you slept for six out of those seven days and on the one morning you're awake you tried to destroy my school!"

"You kidnapped us!"

"You castrated my angel!" he shrieked. "Which, by the way, I'm going to need that penis back." he held his hand open, raising an eyebrow at Stasi who rolled her eyes and shoved her hand in her pocket before pulling out the little stone member and shoving it into the man's hands.

"This is so stupid." she grumbled.

"This _is_ stupid," he agreed, walking around the side of his desk and taking a seat in the large, red leather chair opposite of us. "You haven't even given this place a chance."

"Why would we ever give this place a chance?" I demanded, glaring at him. "You killed Jamie's parents."

"I killed no one," Creto shot quickly, pointing a finger at me. "Jace Herondale Lightwood was one of the greatest Shadowhunters I've ever seen. My General was acting under the authority than anyone not under alliance was an enemy and as for Jace, I _begged _for him to come to his senses and see the lies the Clave was impressing on his generation but he refused to think clearly."

"He refused to think like _you,_" I argued, sitting upright in my seat. "He refused to think that anyone outside of Angelic blood was a useless swine. You owe your pathetic, empty life to some of those Downworlders and you-"

"You are such a _foolish _girl!" Creto yelled back, staring at me incredulously. "You see only what the Clave have taught you, only the hear-say that's been passed down from the first generation. Just as they teach you we judge Downworlders, _you judge us."_

"You called me an abomination, a parasite the first time you met me and-"

"And I was wrong! I admit, fully, that I was wrong! I had no idea of the _gifts _some of you people possess, the talents-"

"And so you see us as prizes? That's even worse! You will never be able to understand the importance of each species. There is no "species" with you, there's only the gifted and the useless, and seeing as I've yet to see any of _your_ talents I'm beginning to believe you belong in the latter category."

Creto slammed his mouth shut and sat back in his chair, sipping the liquor from his glass and watching me.

"I will _never _trust you." I hissed.

"You have no choice," Creto said gravely, shaking his head. "Where will you go, Little One? What will you do?"

"We just don't understand how someone who tried to kill us a few weeks ago now wants to embark on a never-ending sleepover at their place." Thomas spat. Creto shot him a look.

"Do you think I would've allowed him here if it weren't for my change of visions?" Creto asked seriously. "Do you think I would've allowed her?" he pointed to Anastasia. "The three of you have _talents, _gifts of which you're not even aware, don't you understand? We _believe _in you, and that's why we've opted to keep you alive. The exploration of your physiology could lead to countless revelations."

"And say we stay?" I challenged. "Say we do explore these talents and wonders, what are you going to use them for? There's no way you'd want to help us unless it was for your benefit somehow." I crossed my arms over my chest as Creto sighed.

"Yes," he admitted, setting the drink on the table. "We have something very specific planned for your gifts but it's not until you learn to control them that we will allow this plan to take action."

"You seriously think we're going to help you overthrow the Clave with our talents?" Stasi argued. Creto rolled his eyes.

"Fools," he muttered more to himself than us before running a hand over his slick hair. "Why in the Angel would I want to teach you how to control your gifts if I wanted you to follow my orders? Why would I help you explore the full nature of your powers, knowing you could use them against me?"

"Why should we trust you?" I asked finally, staring out of the large glass window to my right. It overlooked Lake Nyl, which shimmered in the sunlight. Fall was here, a few leaves littering the ground already as the leaves started in on the very first stages of their color transition. October was a month of change, perhaps the scenery switch was fitting.

"Because _I'm trusting you,_" Creto said seriously, staring at all three of us. "I'm training you, well aware of the fact that you could tear everything dear to me."

Stasi and I exchanged looks, unsure of what to do. I looked to Thomas, who raised his eyebrows at us and shrugged.

"Give us a minute?" I asked Creto as politely as I could. The man studied us for a few more moments before nodding and raising from his seat, closing the heavy wooden door behind him to his office.

"We have to get the fuck out of here." Stasi hissed immediately, jerking upright in her seat.

"What's the point?" I demanded. "Creto was right, even if we do burn this place to the ground, where will we go?"

"They've got barriers," Thomas murmured. "This place is like some kind of...dome, I guess. Except there's nothing on the other side. It's like we're in our own dimension."

"How the Hell did we get here then? You can't just poof in and out of somewhere."

"Unless you've got a portal," Stasi corrected, biting on her thumb nail as the wheels began to turn in her head. "My guess is that there's some sort of entrance somewhere. But it could be anything. It could be a Rune, it could be a portal, anything. Except we have no idea which. We don't even know what types of Enchantments are on this place."

"We need time, lots of it." I murmured.

"It could take us weeks to figure this all out and still keep a cool demeanor," Stasi worried. "We could be here for God knows how long."

"So there's our main point then," Thomas griped. "We're gonna be fucking stuck here for like, forever anyways, so ya'll know we might as well be on our best behavior."

"Best behavior? They killed Jamie's pa-"

"We know what they did!" Stasi whisper-yelled. "But what can we do, Haze? We are literally trapped with NOWHERE to go. Creto clearly knows something about us that we don't so maybe we should just squeeze whatever information out of him that we can."

"And if he's lying?"

"He's always fucking lying." Thomas grumbled. I nodded and shot Stasi a pointed look.

"If this is a game then we need to play smart," Stasi murmured, trying to calm us down. "If Creto wants to play Mr. Sunshine we are going to blow it up his ass and no matter what we see or hear in this place we need to convince him that we trust him. That is the ONLY way he'll trust us in return."

"I hate this plan."

"It's the only one we've got." Stasi reached over me and grabbed Thomas' hand, pleading at him with her eyes. I sat awkwardly between the two of them, a hollowness filling my chest as they gazed at each other. There was something so heartbreaking about being in front of a couple. Before I met Jamie, I could've sat here, dignified and proud of my independence.

Now, the only thing I wanted was to have someone holding my hand.

There were a few raps on the door before Creto waltzed in, closing the door again behind him.

"I've given you the time required. Are you ready to speak with me, now?" I sized the man up. The last time I'd seen him, he looked like he was falling apart at the seams, a mass of wrinkles and rotting teeth-but now he looked like a perfectly handsome, well-groomed man. He looked to only be in his mid-thirties, and if I'd seen him walking down the street I'd assumed he was married, maybe even with a kid or two working a nice, well-paying job and returning to a lovely home in the evening. This was not the man I knew before, but that was part of playing the game. No matter how my mind seemed to be playing tricks on me _now, _I had to remember what I knew _then, _before I'd been brought to this place.

"We're staying," I said warily. "We will."

"That part was a bit of a given, no offense." Creto murmured, giving a soft smile as he walked back towards his desk and took a seat.

"I know, but now...I mean now we're saying...that we'll try. Okay? We'll actually try. To trust you, I mean."

"What made you change your mind?" Creto asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at us a bit.

"We don't have a choice, remember?" I asked. Creto smiled lightly again, a chill flickering down my spine as I shifted in my seat.

"There's only one problem," Stasi said quietly. "You keep talking about these gifts and these talents...well we all know what Hazel can do. But Thomas and I...well we're just Shadowhunters. There's nothing special about us at all."

"My my," Creto laughed, shaking his head to himself. "They haven't told you anything, have they?"

Stasi and I exchanged looks again.

"Prepare yourselves to be amazed, my Shadowhunters," Creto murmured, sitting back in his chair syly as he watched us. "Gifts have the strangest ways of presenting themselves."


	8. Traitor

**Lamb Lamp Lambency-Marco Beltrami**

**~Jace POV~**

* * *

My eyes fluttered open, sunlight pouring over Hazel as she leaned over me, her brown skin glowing as she smiled.

"Morning, Sleepyhead." she said softly, her lips parting as she smiled again. Heat spread throughout my chest, the cool breeze washing over us and swaying her curls gently as I lifted a hand to touch her soft face. The girl leaned into my palm, her long eyelashes brushing the tops of her cheeks as she closed her eyes.

"So Heaven is real..." I murmured, watching her.

"Did you ever doubt it, Shadowhunter?" she teased, opening her eyes to look at me again. Her iris' danced with flickers of green and gold and dark brown.

"Yes," I admitted honestly, watching as she chewed on her lower lip. "I've always had my doubts about who I was truly fighting for but now I think I know."

"And?"

"You. Wherever you go I'll follow you, I'll protect you. Even if it's against my own people."

Hazel leaned in slowly, her lips brushing mine before her voice slid through her mouth in a whisper.

"Liar." I knit my eyebrows together, looking up at her as she leaned back, raising an eyebrow.

"Liar." She repeated. I shook my head.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded, looking up at her in confusion. Hazel clenched her jaw as she slid her hands up my chest, fire erupting from her fingertips and scalding the skin where it made contact.

"Jamie," she hissed. "You haven't found me. You didn't save me."

"What?"

"Jamie!"

"Hazel, what the Hell is going on?!" I tried to grab at her but everywhere my fingers touched blood spurted from her skin, pouring down her body.

"JAMIE! JAMIE!"

"Jamie!" My eyes snapped open, Heaven's concerned face lingering over mine as she shook me awake. I pulled away from her immediately, rolling over to my side on the wooden floor. My entire bedroom was littered with glass bottles, each of them as empty as the hole in my chest felt.

"Drinking? Seriously?" Heaven chided, leaning back on her hands as I tried to come to my senses. She kicked a bottle away with her toe.

"I can't sleep," I groaned, sitting up. "The only way to get any is to drink yourself to it."

"And what am I supposed to do when the day comes where I can't wake you up?"

"Thank the Angels?"

Heaven made a face at my morbid comment, shaking her head.

"I get it, Jamie. You miss them. But you can't drink yourself to death."

"No, but I can try."

"I'm serious," she shot acidly, standing to her feet. "You keep forgetting that your decisions don't just affect you anymore. Whether you regret the decision or not, we're bound. You get hurt, and I feel it. I have to deal with the nuisance of knowing something's wrong with you even if I don't have to feel your damn pain. If you want to do something to help your family, get off your ass and come to the Library."

I shot her an irritated look as she waltzed out of my bedroom before heaving myself to my feet and following her. There was no point in arguing now, I was wide awake.

I ran my fingers through my messy hair, wondering idly if Stasi would've commented that I needed a haircut by now. My chest began to throb again, the same way it usually did whenever I thought about my missing loved ones. _Loved ones, _I hissed to myself. _Is that what we're calling them now? Jamie Lightwood never had loved ones before Hazel came along. _I sighed, pressing the heels of my palms into my closed eyes as I strode into the Library, wincing at the bright sunlight.

"A little hungover, are we?" Nihada smirked, kicking her feet up on the table. I yanked a piece of lint from her messy hair and shot her a look. "Drinking in the dark is said to heal the soul, by all means carry on." she chided. Antonio nudged her and she giggled as if something was funny.

"How's it going?" I asked, clapping Luke on the shoulder as I passed him. He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"It's going," he muttered. "As good as it can, at least."

"Any leads?" Aaron plopped down on one of the desks, the heavy wood groaning beneath his weight.

"A few theories," Simon said in a frazzled tone. His curly mop was streaking itself gray, and his glasses, although it was said he didn't need them anymore, were crooked. "Obviously they were all taken from the club, meaning someone had to know you'd be there."

"Looks like we've got ourselves a snitch." Darren piped, swinging his legs over one of the rafters above us. I glanced up in his direction before turning back to Simon.

"It's more than a snitch. Whoever sold you all out has to be close enough to the Shadowhunter community that they're informed of all plans."

"No one is informed of everyone's plans," I groaned skeptically. "The last time we worked well together as a Coven was the day we decided to form the damn thing, eons ago."

"Byron was under enchantment when we went to visit," Aaron murmured. "I've been studying them for years and I've never smelled something so strong. Whoever put him under wasn't good enough to cover their tracks."

"So it can't be any of the teachers." Lucy added.

"Unless our culprit _wants _us to think they're a total dumbass."

"I fucking hate mind games." I growled, rubbing my eyes again.

"Funny considering the fact that you're the king of them." Isabelle smirked. I shot her a look before a name flickered across my mind.

"How's Ella?" I asked quickly. "Is she...I mean.."

"She's well, Jamie. She's fine, I promise." Isabelle smiled gently, doing her best to comfort me as much as she could. I leaned my head against the leather chair and sighed.

"Somebody has to know SOMETHING," Aaron groaned in frustration. "Creto's been dealing with Shadowhunters."

"Excuse me?" Everyone in the room gasped, Luke's eyebrows raised high in surprise. "You're joking right?"

"Wait...I mean..."

"Damn it, Aaron." I groaned.

"What?" he cried. "I thought we all knew!"

"You're lying, would you seriously keep something like that from us?" Luke demanded.

"He wouldn't lie about that," Darren argued. "We were all there, we all heard it from the soldier we interrogated."

"I'd bet money it's someone from the Counsil, then. No one else would be able to provide enough information to be a good inside dog."

"At least that narrows it down to about two hundred."

"Thanks for the optimism, Jamie."

"Ever cheerful." I shot.

"You know what doesn't make sense?" Heaven asked suspiciously. "Pluemon was the only one who didn't seem shocked about Hazel's death."

"So? As the Consul he was one of the first people to find out. Does that really surprise you?" Simon challenged.

"Well, yeah. The Inquisitor was found dead two weeks ago, around the same time Hazel's body was supposedly discovered."

"So we have a murderer on our hands, it's not that uncommon Heaven,"Luke shrugged. "We should try to focus on the task at ha-"

"No," Heaven shot more defiantly, standing to her feet. I could see the wheels turning in her mind as the pieces started coming together. "Since the Inquisitor's gone missing, Pluemon's has been and will be acting as the Counsul AND the Inquisitor until a new one's been appointed."

"Nobody's seeing your point, Heav. Sorry." Darren groaned, rubbing his head. Heaven sat back down, seemingly defeated.

"I'm just pointing out that he has an awful big say in what goes on around that place. He could be manipulating any of the higher Council members."

"That's stupid as fuck," Darren shot. "Byron was enchanted when we went to visit him. Pluemon's job is literally to give the Clave Leader advice, if he wanted Byron to sway under his persuasion he wouldn't have to have enchanted him. It just doesn't make any logical sense."

"Well none of this does," Lucy cut in defensively. Darren raised his eyebrows at her. "You don't have to yell at her." Heaven watched Lucy gratefully, a small smile playing at her lips.

I watched the both of them for a moment before sighing and rubbing my eyes for the millionth time that day.

"Each of the higher members of the Council need to be questioned," Luke decided firmly. "Each of the species representatives and the higher Shadowhunters. We need to take this to the Clave, now."

"To Hell with the Clave," I drawled loudly. "I say we take this to Alicante immediately."

"Why the fuck would Pluemon want to help us interrogate everyone if he's the one behind it?" Darren shot. I rolled my eyes. "The last time we were in Alicante you nearly burned down the morgue with Hazel's body in it."

"That was an accident." I shot.

"No one ACCIDENTALLY makes a sulfur bomb with embalming fluid and witchlight." Heaven snapped. I rolled my eyes.

"Under law, if an investigation is underway, there's nothing Pluemon can do to stop it. So it looks like he's shit out of luck."

"_If _he's the one behind all of this."

"Question..." I murmured slyly, raising an eyebrow at all of them. "Say, theoretically, we do find out is behind it...I'd like to place a certain request."

"And what would that be?" Luke asked, leaning back against a bookshelf.

"I'm the one who gets to kill them."

"Jamie!" Isabelle hissed, her eyes wide. I clenched my jaw.

"They took people I care about. It's only fitting I take their life."

"Could you even imagine murdering another Shadowhunter, if that's who it is?"

"I can imagine getting revenge on the people who murdered those that I lo...those that I care about, yes." I choked, unable to finish the word "Love."

"The Council will never agree to this." Simon muttered, shaking his head. "They'd all tell you 'no', and you know it."

"They don't have a choice," I shrugged. "I've already made up my mind."

"You would kill another Shadowhunter? You're insane. Are you wishing for death?" Lucy cried, staring at me wide-eyed.

"These days?" I asked darkly. "I've been begging for it."


	9. Testing, Testing, 123

**Papa Roach-Last Resort**

**~Hazel POV~**

* * *

I had spent weeks in the gym. I had done millions of crunches, hundreds of lunges, a thousand miles around the campus. We had worked every possible muscle my body had to offer, and every single day it was something new.

On the first day of The Games, they'd woken us up in the middle of the night, all of us stumbling around drunkenly as we tried to make our way through a maze that spit fire every time you turned a wrong corner.

By week two, they'd put us in a tank full of sharks and told us it was our jobs to either swim miles to safety or be eaten alive.

By week three, they'd put us through electroshock therapy, which was meant to toughen up our will should we be kidnapped and tortured.

Now, in week four, nearly a month after we'd been kidnapped and brought to Creto's school, I was, as usual, fighting for my life.

I rounded a corner, colliding fiercely with a strong, hard body. My back hit the ground first, my curls exploding out of their ponytail holder as a groan escaped my lips. A pair of dark black eyes settled on me, the boy's curly brown hair shining in the light from above as he bent down and extended his hand towards me.

"We have got to stop meeting like this." he grinned, heaving me to my feet. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Yes, well, I wasn't exactly thinking of the perfect setting when I was running for my life."

"Might as well get used to it," he laughed, unwrapping a rubber band from his wrist and holding it out for me. "We're tested at the beginning of every semester, split into Divisions, and then train all week until the next testing session comes. The running-for-your-life never stops."

I threw my curls into a sloppy ponytail, pressing myself flat against the wall as a couple of troops ran right past us. The boy bit his lip and stared at me.

"Troy," he said quickly, shoving me to the ground as a dagger flew over our heads and landed in the wall above us. "And if you want to live you should probably follow me."

A soldier rounded the corner and swung a large sword over my head, barely giving me time to deflect it with my arm. The metal sliced across my skin, leaving a trail of blood in it's place before I shoved my foot hard into the man's shin, dropping him to his knees. I crossed him in the jaw with my elbow, shooting Troy a pointed look. "I can take care of myself just fine, thank you. And my name is-"

"Oh trust me, I know what your name is." Troy laughed, unsheathing a large sword. I marveled at the instrument, it's bronze metal glimmering a blood-red gold in the light. At the hilt, a pair of angel wings spread wide in a prideful arc, a red ruby nestled right in the center of them. Troy swung it upwards at the soldier who'd made the mistake of advancing on him.

I'd never seen anyone fight so clean. His posture, his movements, everything was calculated, everything was thoughtful. Every flick of the wrist and turn of the torso was a studied, actions that only could have been achieved through years of endless drills and practice. He just like Jamie.

_No, _my soul whispered. _No one is anything like Jamie. _As I watched Troy move, I realized that it was true. Jamie was all passion, all emotion, all feeling. He _was _his sword, he _was_ the battle, Troy had only studied it. For someone who wasn't supposed to feel anything, emotion was all Jamie really worked off of.

I swore at myself silently, cursing myself for even thinking of him. It had been a month and he still hadn't found me. He probably hadn't even started looking.

Troy looked at me, his eyebrows knitting together as he caught me staring.

"Everything alright?" he asked, breathless.

"I-" The brick beside us exploded, heavy concrete flying through the air as I sailed into wall after wall, every bone in my body cracking until I finally hit the stone ground. I kept my eyes closed for a long time, dwelling on the pain that spread through my ribs every time I inhaled. The air came in and out of my lungs in labored, short, rasps, but I knew I couldn't stay down for long. This was a game. This was a test. I needed to move.

I shifted my body to the left, rolling onto my back as a groan moved from my mouth. Brick littered the ground, dust and sharp bits of concrete everywhere I looked. I was on my feet soon enough, my entire body begging me to take a rest as I began pushing my way through the debris, heading towards the sound of clashing metal.

"Hazel?" I turned my head towards the voice that sang out my name, although I'd never heard it before.

"Hello?"

"Hazel?!"

I ran towards the sound of my identity, tripping over bricks and rubble until finally I shoved my way into a circle of Initiates. They all looked at me, each of them roughly about my age and all armed. Immediately I patted down my pockets, my chest, even my back for Ember.

"Shit..."I whispered. It was gone. I'd dropped it in the explosion. Troy and a few other kids from our team ran to my side, Abby's bright blue eyes gleaming in anxiety. Her strawberry-blonde hair was twisted high into an elegant knot at the top of her head, and even with her high cheekbones and small, petite nose, the nineteen-year-old looked perfectly plain next to Anastasia, who was panting at her side.

"What the Hell is this?" Stasi whispered.

"Team Match," Troy murmured, tightening his grip on his sword. "Don't worry, my brother's been through Initiation and he made it out alive just fine."

"ALIVE?!" Thomas cried, his eyes wide as the other team began to advance towards us.

"YES, alive," Troy said irritatedly, stepping slightly in front of me. "I guess they forgot to mention the part where those who don't make the cut get killed in the games."

"This is like Mockingjay all over again..." I murmured, shaking my head and backing away with my fearful teammates.

"What the Hell does a bird have to do with this?"

"Ignore her," Stasi cut in. "Hazel lived like a human for the first seventeen years of her life, no one ever knows what she's talking about."

"I think we have bigger problems on our hands, people." Abby snapped, drawing out her bow and arrow. A tall, gangly boy with ginger red hair on the other team grinned at her, his eyes glinting.

"Nobody said anything about dying when we agreed to this shit." I grumbled.

"Nobody ever says anything about dying until it happens." Troy shrugged. And then he lunged.

The Green Team sprung into action immediately, and I was left weaponless as the battle begun. Troy was swinging and stabbing and jabbing and throwing punches like he'd been doing it his entire life, and as I ducked underneath the swing of his sword, I tripped over his right foot and plummeted towards the ground. I threw my arms around his neck as he knelt on the ground, balancing me on his knee with one hand on my back and his sword pointed across my chest.

"Even in the heat of battle you can't keep away from me, huh?" he smiled. I rolled my eyes, flinching as a tall Mexican girl hurtled a dart near his face. Troy deflected it easily, rolling me off of his knee and heaving me to my feet, pushing me behind him. His sword met another in the crowd and he shoved his elbow into the girl's face, knocking her off balance and pulling her sword from it's sheath as she hit the ground.

"Here!" he yelled, tossing me the Seraph Blade. I stared at it for a moment, wondering how I was supposed to fight with a weapon that wouldn't answer to me. "What the Hell are you doing?!" he cried, blocking a blade as it slung towards my face.

"I can't use this!" I yelled over the roar of the crowd, stomping on the foot of a short boy and bringing my knee up in between his legs. He crumpled to the ground and I fished through his pockets, yanking a dagger out just in time to roll over his body and shove my foot into the tall Mexican girl's shins. She cried out, lashing at me as a blonde boy with fat lips ran to her.

"Laura!" he screamed, wedging himself in between our bodies. He lunged at me, knocking me onto my back and pinning me onto the ground, his brass knuckles slamming into the pavement centimeters away from my face.

I flinched, concrete exploding near my face as he drew back again. I rolled and his fist, along with the metal, came down hard on my left shoulder blade, cracking the bone underneath the skin. I turned back to him, closing my right hand around his throat. His fingers clawed at my hand, the nails of his free hand pressing in on my cheek until my hand grew searing hot, a quick flame exploding from my palm.

The boy screamed, throwing himself off of my body and clutching the burnt skin of his jugular. My eyes were wide as I watched him writhe on the floor, his screams filling the entire Battle Court. His team stared in horror, the Mexican girl he'd defended running to his side and gathering him up in her arms.

"Nick!" she yelled, tears brimming in her eyes as she ran her hand over his thin cheek. "Nick?! Somebody help! Stop it! Stop! We forfeit!"

"LAURA!" One of her teammates cried, shaking his head.

"WE FORFEIT! Laura screamed, staring up at the Judgment Panel two stories above us. Ms. Vivian raised an eyebrow at all of us, his Council Members all murmuring in surprise, all of them safe behind the glass that separated them from us.

The room was filled with nothing but heavy breathing and Laura's sniffing as the panel took a moment to murmur amongst themselves.

"Very well," Creto called. "Laura, I assume you understand the consequences of your forfeit?" Laura clenched her jaw, looking up at him teary-eyed.

"I understand."

"This isn't fair!" One of her teammates called. "She can't speak for all of us!"

"I'm Captain and I can speak for whomever the Hell I want!" Laura screamed, Nick's body starting to go limp in his arms. She looked up at Creto. "You need a Team to be out more than anything right now and if you keep letting us fight we'll be at it for days. Just heal him," she begged. "Heal him and I swear we'll forfeit."

Creto pondered this for a moment before nodding. Immediately, the walls of the Battle Room began to sink into the ground as if it were made of quicksand, all of the debris and rubble and weapons disappearing until there was nothing more than ten kids in an empty room.

"What the Hell is going on?" I whispered to Troy as he held out his hand for me again. I took it, pulling myself a little closer to him than I'd meant to.

"After every Team Match, one team gets eliminated."

"Eliminated? What are you talking about?"

"This is an Initiation, Haze," he murmured, pushing me towards the exit with the rest of our team. "Creto's making an army, and if you were making an army wouldn't you want to ensure that you only had the best of the best fighters?"

"This is a joke, right? What he's doing is sick. And he told me that everyone here has a gi-"

"You know for a fact that some gifts are better than others, babe."

I was still stuck on the fact that he'd called me babe when we were standing outside the door of my room, Stasi and Thomas walking towards us hand in hand.

"They'll call us for Elimination tonight," he said softly. "You should probably stay here."

"Why would I stay?"

"It's not something you're gonna wanna watch." he warned, giving me an apologetic smile. I nodded, rolling my shoulder a little bit.

"That kid really got me back there." I groaned.

"Hazel, you..." Troy bit his lip, which had been bloodied slightly from the fight. "You might wanna watch out, alright?"

"Is that a threat?" I asked immediately, unsure of why I'd been so quick to snap. Before learning about demons and evil Shadowhunters and the fact that you could honestly trust no one, I would've been slow to act against any possible warnings. But this was different. _I _was different. Troy just laughed, shaking his head slightly.

"Not at all," he chuckled. "I just don't want you to get hurt. People around here...they already have a bit of an opinion about you."

"And why is that?" I challenged.

"We're all well aware of your uhm...special talents. And after today, we know you know how to use them."

"Why wouldn't they like me for that? It's not my fault."

"We know it isn't. But you keep forgetting that this is a competition. Would you want to play a game if there was already a winner?"

"So Creto picks favorites?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

I scoffed, biting my lip before opening the door of my room and letting Stasi pass us, who gave me a sly pointed look. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Thank you, Troy," I said honestly. "I owe you one."

"You owe me nothing," he said sweetly, raising his hands in modesty as he walked backwards away from me. "Just promise you won't turn out to be one of those crazy chicks that take the nice guys for advantage."

"I promise." I laughed.

If I knew then what I know now, I would've felt bad for lying.


	10. Trial and Error

**Harry and Hermione- Nicholas Hooper**

***Lucy POV***

* * *

I pulled my brush through the thick strands of my black hair, Heaven watching from the bed as I did so. Blushing under the weight of her gaze, my cheeks turned a bright scarlet, all too visible through my light skin.

"You don't have to be embarrassed." Heaven murmured, trying to hide a smile as I continued to groom myself.

"What else am I supposed to be when you're staring at me like that?" I challenged. Heaven rolled her beautiful eyes at me.

"What else am _I _supposed to do when there's someone so pretty to stare at?"

I blushed even harder as she slid off of the bed and stood behind me, running her hands through my long locks. She held the sides of my face in her hands and kissed the top of my head.

"Have you thought about what I said the other day?" she asked tentatively. I bit my lip, a dreadful feeling washing over me.

"Heaven..."

"Lucy, come on." she groaned.

"You can't rush this out of me!" I cried. "Not everyone is as ready to come out as you are. Do you know what the Clave would say?"

"Do I know?" Heaven snapped. "My Dad is on the Council as Head of Training and Code, don't act like you're the only one who'd be facing a hard freaking time."

"You don't have to be so rude," shot back, my lip quivering slightly. "You can't force this out of me when I'm not even sure it's what I want!"

Heaven raised her eyebrows at me, taking her hands off of my face and marching promptly towards the door. I slumped in my seat, scrubbing tears off of my face as Heaven left the room, a heavy cloud of grief settling over me in her absence.

None of this was fair.

How could she expect me to declare a preference when I wasn't even sure what it was? I'd never been with a boy. I'd never touched one, never kissed one, never even thought of one.

But I'd been with Heaven. I'd touched her, I'd kissed her, and I thought of her in my every waking moment- until recently when Andrew Wilder had been put into my Enchantments class. Him; with his broad smile and full bottom lip and twinkling gray eyes. Him; with his lean, slender body and light brown skin.

"None of this is fair." I whispered to the empty room.

None of it.

* * *

***Hazel POV***

* * *

I could hear the roaring of the crowd from down the stone corridor as Abby led Stasi and I towards a large hole in the wall. Light blazed from inside, and as we stepped underneath the cove a gasp escaped from my lips. It was a giant cave, a stone ring with a sand floor in the very pit of it with hundreds of Soldiers and Trainers and Teachers each milling around. Bleachers made of stone encircled the walls of the cave at least three stories up. I looked up at the ceiling of the cave, which domed up and turned into black stone miles above us.

"This is incredible." I breathed.

"Yeah, incredible until the show starts." Abby grumbled, shoving her way through the crowd. Stasi and I followed close behind her, trying not to get lost in the sea of bodies.

A hand brushed against mine, long, thick fingers intertwining themselves with my own. I jumped.

"Easy, easy," Troy chided, trying not to laugh. "Are you always this jittery?" he teased. I rolled my eyes at him, not pulling my hand away.

"Only when random creeps in the crowd try to grab at me."

"What?" he pretended to be hurt. "This is hand holding, not grabbing."

"Grabbing, holding...tomato, tamato."

"Didn't I ask you to stay in your room?" he asked, sitting us down on one of the stone ledges and still holding my hand. We were a story above the ring, several Trainers running about in the sand to prepare for Elimination Trials.

"What made you think I would listen?"

"I asked nicely, didn't I?"

A dark-skinned boy with long eyelashes and a broad, toothy white grin poked his head in between our shoulders from the bench above us.

"Haven't you heard that nice guys finish last?" He asked teasingly, his deep voice hinting at a smile. He turned to me, shoving Troy aside slightly so he could extend his hand.

"Wheat," he grinned. "Wheat Pemberland."

"You sound like you belong in a storybook," I laughed, shaking his hand. "Haze-"

"We know your name, trust me." Wheat laughed. He sat back in his seat, Troy and I turning in ours so we could look up at him and his friends.

"This is Brooke," he started, pointing to a thick girl with long blonde hair and green eyes. She had an Eastern look about her, with olive skin and big full lips. "This is Kyle," he motioned to a chubby Asian boy with dark hair and eyes, wearing a surfer's necklace. "This is Nita," he pointed to a tall, skinny black girl with long strong legs and short cropped hair. "And this is Taz."

Taz was the most handsome looking of all of them, with a fat bottom lip, green eyes, black hair that curled around his ears and neck like Troy's, high cheekbones, and a long, pointed nose. His skin was a light honey color, it seemed to glow almost, and his smile was gleaming and white. There was something familiar about his face that caught my eyes and churned my stomach, but I couldn't quite place what it was.

"How old are you?" I asked quietly, Troy shooting me a look as Taz raised his eyebrows.

"Fifteen," he murmured quietly, scratching the back of his head. "Fifteen and a half, why?"

"Just wondering." I whispered, turning back in my seat quickly. I shrugged at the look Stasi gave me.

"Is it true you're made of fire?" Nita asked, her voice deep and rich. I bit my lip, Troy chuckling at my side.

"Uhm, something like that-" I started. Brooke cut me off, putting the back of her hand against my forhead.

"Bullshit, she's chock full of the stuff. Just feel her-she's like a walking fireplace."

"Careful Brooke, before she does you in like she did Nick." Kyle laughed, leaning back in his seat. Brooke pulled her hand away slowly, raising an eyebrow at me as if she dared me to try anything. I already didn't like her attitude.

"What happened to Nick was an accident." Troy defended, shooting Kyle a look. The Asian boy shrugged.

"It really was," I cut in. "I didn't even know what I was doing."

"That's a relief." Brooke groaned sarcastically. I rolled my eyes, turning back in my seat as Stasi flipped a long lock of hair over her shoulder. I shot her a look.

"Wait...where did that-"

"Extensions," she sighed, fiddling with one of them. "I couldn't bare the short hair. I'm not cute enough for it."

"Shut up, you're gorgeous." Thomas ordered sternly, pecking her on the cheek as he settled into his seat next to her. Abby plopped down next to Troy, asking if she'd missed anything yet.

"No," he answered. "The Panel hasn't even sat down."

I followed his gaze across the room, to a small glass box in the center of the crowd where Creto and a few other men in dark robes were chattering aimlessly. The box poked out over the crowd slightly, Initiates huddled underneath it's cover, and even settled above it on the benches that coated the top. I glanced back down at the arena, several dark caverns leading into tunnels digging further into the cave.

"Which one are they supposed to come out of?" I asked, glancing back at Wheat. He shrugged, scooting aside slightly so that Nita could scoot behind me. She spread her legs slightly, tugging at one of my curls.

"Can I?" she asked, biting her lip excitedly. I nodded, slightly caught off guard as she pulled my back against her legs and began combing through my hair with her fingers.

"No one really knows where they enter or how, it's different every time." Troy shrugged.

"It's crazy though," Wheat murmured. "The public executions are never pretty yet the stands are always chock full."

"Public executions?!" Stasi cried, whirling around in her seat. Wheat jumped at the sight of her, raising his hands in defense.

"Chill, babe, it's not like it was my idea," he laughed. "It's not REALLY, an execution, it's just that some kids die along the way of the Games sometimes. That's all it is, just a game. The people who survive mostly get thrown into the Higher Forest and have to find their own ways home back to Alicante or something. They get banished, not killed. We've been watching these damn things since we were fourteen, I promise you'll get used to it."

"You can get to Alicante through the Higher Forests?" I demanded, Jamie's face instantly flashing across my mind. I pulled my hand out of Troy's.

"Well, no one really knows how, but the Higher Forests are blocked off. You have to lose a game to get put out there. But I wouldn't be too excited, there's animals and shit in those woods. I don't do animals."

"How the Hell am I ever supposed to get used to public executions? People are about to die!" Stasi hissed in my ear, clenching her teeth. I bit my lip, shrugging at her.

"You've slaughtered hundreds of demons disguised as people," I whispered as bells began to chime in the cave.

"This is so fucked up." Stasi grumbled, shaking her head.

I turned back to the arena, doing a double take and catching Troy watching me from the corner of my eye.

"What?" I demanded, a little too harshly. He shrugged quickly, opening his mouth but not speaking before the lights dimmed in the cave. I refocused my attention.

The center of the arena seemed to hollow itself out, a platform raising in it's place as a long, skinny man with black ripped jeans and chains hanging from his pockets beamed up at us, his septum piercing gleaming in the cave light. His black hair was spiked upwards at least three inches, his pale skin sticking out against the gravel against the ground. He raised a microphone to his lips.

"INITIATES!"

The cave erupted into a mass of screams and cheering, dozens of teenagers shooting to their feet and whooping wildly, waving their arms around, stripping their clothes off, cupping their hands around their mouths to make themselves louder. Troy laughed at my expression, clapping his hands as the man in the center of the arena grinned at the chaos he'd caused.

"Are you ready for a Trial?!" he asked loudly, fully knowing the answer. I rose to my feet with the rest of the crowd, Stasi and Thomas following warily as I began to clap along with the others.

"That's what we like to hear! Now unfortunately, our Team this week chose to forfeit, ending the three week stalemate of Trials! I know, I know," he said in mock disappointment, answering to the boo's that erupted from the crowd. "None of us like quitters but hey! Look on the bright side, at least now we get to use these bad boys!"

He swung his arm out towards one of the cave openings, where three large, ferocious animals with chained collars around their necks made their way into the light, snarling. I leaned forward, trying to make out what they were.

They looked like tigers, black furred with white and silver stripes with long, curving canine teeth like their saber-toothed ancestors.

"What the Hell is that?" I breathed, staring at it's long, glowing talons as it clawed the air.

"They're Hade's Felines," Troy said knowingly, rubbing his chin. "One scratch and you're paralyzed for hours, it's ridiculous."

"Hades? You don't mean to tell me-"

"What?" he asked teasingly, raising one eyebrow at me. "Where do you think all those demons you fight come from?"

I let my mouth drop open at the idea of Satan, my eyes drifting back to the arena as the Felines stalked around the center platform in circles, each of them hissing and snarling, their claws raking the sand.

"His name is Zane," Brooke said over the roar of the crowd, nodding towards the man in the center. "I don't really know when he came into the Institute but he's been here for awhile. Creto acts like he's his own son or something, but he's gorgeous so I don't blame him."

"Creto likes him because Zane's a fucking maniac," Wheat retorted, crossing his arms although he was smiling. "Last year he choked a thirteen year old in his sleep for stealing his Heroite blades."

Zane was making kissy faces at the Felines as they stalked around him before looking up towards the ceiling of the caves.

"Each Trial, as you know, requires some sort of payment for losing and not meeting required standards," Zane drawled, grinning as Laura was lowered over the arena. She was chained upside down, her long brown hair dangling underneath her as she passed in front of the bodies of the crowd. Some people reached out to grab her, others to squeeze her tied up hands affectionately, others threw things at her in disgust of her forfeit. I winced, like I was the one being dangled.

Laura was lowered down further and further until she was hanging right above Zane, eye level with him.

"Our beautiful Laura Finn, ladies and gentleman!" he cheered, pecking her on the cheek as she writhed. Her face was turning pink. "Everyone give this valiant girl a hand for sacrificing her team tonight."

Everyone booed.

"Now now, let's not be so hasty!" Zane chided. "Laura here is a hero! Not a quitter!" he was teasing her, mocking her. "And what did she sacrifice her team for, may you ask?" he gave a dramatic pause as platforms began to raise around the arena, each of them with a member of Laura's team standing, red-faced, ready to fight, terrified, weapons in hand.

The Felines caught sight of their prey and began tugging ferociously at their chains, anxious to eat. Anxious to kill.

"Laura sacrificed her team for none other, than _Love."_ he pointed across the arena to Nick, who stood tormented, his neck bandaged and his fingers gripping the end of a long Brazilian sword as his eyes flickered between Laura and Zane. My gut pinched. This was all my fault.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked, catching my expression.

"This is my doing." I breathed, shaking my head.

"No, no, no, no," Troy said quickly, grabbing one of my hands and turning my face towards him. "No you have to know none of what happens tonight is your fault okay? If they didn't lose now, they'd just lose later. They would've wound up here regardless of who sent them do you understand?"

I didn't answer, biting my lip instead as I turned away from him. Zane was murmuring something to Laura, grinning evilly before turning to her. The glass around each of her teammates began to lower, sinking further and further down until the only thing keeping them from being eaten alive by those Felines was the chains that held them to the center pedestal. My heart rate started to pick up, Zane's platform rising even higher and the chains pulling taught.

"Now, Initiates..." he drawled cruelly. "Let's see how far a team will go for a captain who put their lives on the line."

Creto watched with the rest of his Council from the glass above.

The room grew silent.

I could hear Troy's heavy breathing next to me, along with the sound of my own pounding heart.

The lights flashed brilliantly.

The Felines snarled.

Nick's grip tightened as he flashed a look at one of the boys on his team.

The bells rang.

The tigers were released.


	11. One For All, All For Nothing

**Two Steps From Hell-Protectors Of The Earth**

* * *

"No!" I screamed, lunging forward. Troy grabbed a hold of my shoulders, all of our surrounding peers shooting me confused or dirty looks as the Felines lunged at each of the contenders. My heart was racing, my palms were sweating.

Zane sat down on his pedestal crossed-legged and grinning. My eyes locked on Nick, who moved quicker than I could follow.

As the Feline lunged at him he turned on his heel, arching his back as if he were swinging a bat. The gravel at his feet swirled hectically before shooting up from the ground in a large arc, splashing the Feline in the eyes and mouth. The big cat screeched, leaping backwards and landing on it's back.

"Calm down, calm down," Troy coaxed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "He can take care of himself." Nick grinned and began sprinting across the arena.

The entire cave was filled with shouting, the noise almost unbearable as I tried to follow the movements of each teammate. One small, pale girl was being thrashed around on the ground, her limp body a mess of limbs and blood as a Feline swung her around ferociously, trying to tear her into edible pieces. My stomach turned. Stasi threw up on the kid in front of her.

Nick was making his way towards Laura, nearly halfway there when another one of the Felines snarled, landing in front of him. The boy jerked backwards, clearly taken back. The cat hissed, it's claws glowing brighter and brighter as it stalked towards him.

A large, muscular black boy who looked to be in his 20's roared, leaping over the pedestal and onto the creature's back, driving the blade of his sword straight into it's skull. The first Feline screeched, tackling him off of it's comrade's back and dragging it's claws clear across his face. There were three dead Initiates already on the ground, the gravel around them matted with dark red blood that glinted in the witchlight on the walls.

I watched as Laura thrashed wildly in the air, shaking my head as she did so.

"No, no, no," I murmured to myself, biting my lip as one of the Feline's watched her hungrily. "She's drawing too much attention..."

My eyes flickered in the direction of a scream that belted from the pit of the arena, a tall girl with long black hair being dragged back into one of the caverns, her fingers leaving a trail of blood as they raked through the sand.

"We have to do something," I said firmly, my hands beginning to burn. "We have to do something right now."

Troy grabbed the crook of my elbow, refusing to let me leave as I began to struggle.

"If you interfere now, our entire team will pay the price do you understand? You could get a dozen people killed. Better them than us."

"Are you stupid?" I shrieked, Wheat putting his hand on my shoulder.

"There's nothing we can do," Taz shrugged, looking at my glowing hands. "Besides, setting the whole place on fire isn't gonna do much good. You'd just melt the cave and kill us all."

"Melt it?" Stasi asked curiously, looking around. "This place is made of lava rock...isn't it?"

"Yes ma'am," Taz beamed, happy to share his knowledge. "The second it gets too hot in here, the entire place will come down like a sand castle in water."

"I'm not just gonna sit here and let them die when it's my fault they're down there." I argued, crawling over the people in front of me.

Troy and Stasi called my name, Wheat yelling that he didn't want to be left out as they followed me down the crowd of people, everyone looking at us confusedly and shouting at us for blocking their view.

One of the Feline's leaped upwards, it's claw raking across Laura's back. She let out a loud scream, her body stiffening immediately and swinging in the air like a play toy. Zane hadn't even flinched, not even looking slightly phased as her blood started dripping down the chains and onto the pedestal around him.

One of the cats was thrown into the cave wall, dead.

I came to the ledge of the sitting area, still ten feet above the arena as Nick began backing into the wall underneath me. My eyes flickered between him and the large cat as it stalked him it's teeth smeared with blood and glinting.

"See? We can't even get down there." Troy huffed, nearly out of breath from the run as his eyes flew wildly around the room.

"We need to quit while we're ahead," Kyle said warily. "Look."

I followed his gaze across the arena, where Creto and his Counsil watched us without amusement. They were daring us. They were losing patience.

"We can't just sit here!" Stasi cried, watching as the Feline closed in on Nick. The gravel was swirling on his feet again, but I knew that no amount of Earth control could save him from this beast, not when his gift was so underdeveloped. I bit my lip. I had two options.

I could calmly go back to my seat, knowing that the people beneath me were dying at my hand.

I could set the entire place on fire.

I wasn't quite sure what it was with me and extreme options lately, but I knew that there as one thing I was good at: Finding a middle ground.

So I didn't go back to my seat.

And I didn't set the place on fire.

I jumped.

The cat glanced upwards at me only seconds before I collided with it's body, the crowd cheering and roaring and booing as the weight of the animal crushed my insides. We rolled across the dirt, it's body too wide and broad for it to turn in it's paws and grab at me. For once, I was grateful that it was so huge. The animal flung me into the air, my body crashing against the pedestal. Zane grabbed my arm before I could slip off of the marble, his expression a mixture of confusion and disgust as he hauled me to my feet, Laura's wide dark eyes locking with mine.

"What the Hell are you doing?" I asked, waiting for him to attack. The boy made no sound, just narrowed his eyes at me before moving out of my way.

Troy had snatched one of the swords from the fallen Initiates, he and Thomas doing their best to protect Stasi as she held a bleeding girl in her arms. I did a double take, my eyes widening as I watched Stasi put her hand over a large gash in the girls neck. The blood on the Initiate's neck began to shimmer, glowing underneath Stasi's touch for a moment before my friend lifted her hands, staring at them in terror. They were covered in blood, still glowing. Stasi wiped it quickly on her shirt as the girl fluttered her eyes open, using the top of her jacket to wipe the blood away from her neck.

The wound was gone.

My thoughts were interrupted as a chunk of marble flew upwards and caught me in the jaw, debris flying everywhere as another Feline clawed at the marble, barely able to reach me as it jumped. Laura gave a muffled scream as it began climbing towards us. I looked up at her, getting a firm hold on her chains before pulling backwards, walking towards one end of the pedestal, and then running towards the other.

We sailed through the air as I climbed up her body, the both of us swinging like a pendulum from one side of the arena to the other, the metal creaking and groaning as her chain was sank lower once more.

They were dangling us over the cats.

They had never meant for Laura to survive in the first place.

I looked at the top of the chain, searching for a way to break it as we swung back and forth, people cheering and screaming and booing. Some tossed things at us when we came close to them. Some tried to grab at us and help.

Nick and Troy were having a hard time fending off the cat. I wrapped one of my hands around the chain just above Laura's feet, the metal glowing underneath my hand as it began to burn. The girl underneath me screamed again, the hot iron dripping around my arm and landing on her arms, legs, torso, the back of her neck, burning her wherever it touched.

"Just hold on!" I shouted as the chain grew thinner. "Just hold on!"

The metal broke, Laura and I sailing into the gravel with a loud and painful thud, dirt flying up all around us as one of the last remaining cats turned it's head and snarled. I had freed my friend, but landed us right in the path of danger.

All three cats looked at us, and I shook my head, blinking my eyes.

Hadn't there only been two after the first was killed?

The cat lunged, it's canine's inches away from my face when Wheat literally appeared from thin air. A black cloud of smoke erupted into the air in front of me, Wheat's body appearing with it as he tackled the beast away from us. He disappeared again, another black cloud of smoke appearing where his body used to be as the cat looked around in confusion.

It hissed and I roared, my hands erupting into flames as I gave it a challenging look, warning it of it's death. Troy grinned at me from across the arena, clearly impressed. Zane however was looking over the edge of the pedestal lazily, one eyebrow raised as he took in our attempt to save a team we didn't belong to.

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone, including the cats, stopped as Creto looked down at all of us, is face a mask of controlled fury as his nostrils flared.

"I have seen quite enough," he hissed. "Just what is it that you intended to do?"

"This is wrong!" I shouted, Zane flickering his eyes between me and the man. "Just let them go! Half of their team is already dead, Creto. Just let them go."

The man clenched his jaw, staring at me for a long time as one of the large Felines came to stand next to me. I flinched, backing away so quickly I nearly tripped over Laura before the cat shook out it's fur, shrinking smaller and smaller before turning into Kyle. He grinned at me. So one of the cats HAD died. Kyle could shapeshift.

"You're not the only one with superpowers," he whispered. "I think you keep forgetting that."

"Enough." Creto said darkly, for the third time. His voice was echoing off of the walls, booming even though no microphone was near. Eric looked up at him in annoyance before staring back down at me.

"My Children," Creto drawled, pressing his hand to the glass. It shrunk away slowly, and out of the thick rock beneath the Council's Box extended a long set of sturdy, winding stairs that groaned and crumbled as they grew. "It seems that we have forgotten the rules of our Academy."

"But you can't just-"

"You will do well to silence yourself," Creto shot curtly, glaring at Anastasia. "Lest you be the next one we feed to our little kitties."

Anastasia closed her mouth quickly.

"There is an order," Creto began again, his voice wavering slightly as he tried to keep his calm, advancing towards me. "That will remain in place, regardless of your presence, Ms. Roberts. Should you ever...in your _life..._interfere with Elimination again," he stopped inches away from me, extending a hand out towards Kyle and the others. "It will lead to the death of not only your teammates, but your newly found friends as well."

My stomach turned, Creto facing the crowd now and staring up at the faces of each of them as if to pick out who was just as sick and twisted as he was and who else needed to be fed to the Felines.

"Life, my Children, is not _easy._ In times of peril, do you believe complete strangers would throw themselves in the path of danger for you? Do you believe someone with no connection, no bond to you would give their life in the place of yours? What you saw here tonight was not an act of selflessness, do not be fooled. It was an act of _pride..._a need for these young ones to prove themselves. Thanks to them, the next Elimination will contain the end of two Teams, and not only that, but the percentage of allowance into the ranks of our militia has been decreased by twenty-five percent."

There was an uproar from the crowd, murmurs of worry and screams of fear and sobbing as everyone realized that the nine of us had just increased their chance of being thrown into the forest to die by a quarter percentage. Troy shot me a worried look, his eyebrows knit together as he chewed on the inside of his cheek, and I remembered earlier how he'd told me that I'd already had a reputation.

If anyone at the academy hadn't hated me then, they did now.

I understood then, the entirety of Creto's Academy. In every essence he had created the exact opposite of the Clave, trying to instill the importance of self-preservation over all instead of teamwork, trying to convince us that no one could be trusted, no one was on our side, and that a cold, calculating mindset was the only way to get through life.

"Perhaps it would be wise to _think _before making such reckless decisions," Creto hissed into my ear, closing the distance between us. I stared at the gravel ground in front of me, refusing to flinch as his voice flickered against my eardrums. Soldiers began filtering into the arena, dragging the bodies of the Felines back into the cavern to God knows where. Each of them grabbed a hold of Nick and a small blonde girl with green eyes, two of the three surviving Elimination stopped at Laura's body, looking down at her unmoving form as she stared up at him wide-eyed.

"Sir?"

Creto looked at me for a moment, not taking his eyes off of my face as he spat his verdict.

"Kill her."

The Soldier raised his Heroit blade, the black metal glinting in the light for a few seconds before it cut through the air and was lodged into Laura's abdomen. There was a sickening snap as the Soldier twisted the blade in between her ribcage, ensuring her death. I clenched my jaw, the sound of Nick and his team mate's bodies hitting the ground, blood spilling from their necks as they stared into space empty-eyed.

"Remember," Creto murmured, almost affectionately now as he stroked a curl away from my face. I recoiled from his touch. "If it were you and your friends down here...not a single person would've come to save you."

* * *

***Authors Note* Hey guys! So lately I haven't been getting a lot of feedback on the story and it's kinda bumming me out because I feel like as an author I'm not giving you guys what you want and that the story isn't doing well. If I don't update frequently or very often it's because I feel like the story isn't really receiving good reception and many people aren't reading it. I apologize!**


	12. Revelation

**Clary's Theme-Sadice Music**

**~Jamie POV~**

* * *

"So I guess that takes the Seelie Queen and Melicorn out of the equation..." Heaven grumbled, scratching their names off of her list. There was a good twenty names in all, only twelve being scratched within the past two weeks, and the only thing that had kept us going was the hope that we were getting closer and closer to our traitor.

"Don't be so stupid, Heav," I scolded as we navigated through the stone tunnels underneath the Accords Hall. "Faeries never tell the entire truth."

"Yeah well maybe you could do us all a favor and sleep with the Seelie Queen so she'll fess up."

"You're disgusting." I laughed, shaking my head as we passed several corridors.

"I heard she had a crush on your Dad, you know."

"By the Angels, please stop," I laughed harder, running my hands over my face. "Never in a million years."

"I'm serious. Maybe she went from DILF lover to Cougar...how old is she, like a hundred and nine?"

I opened my mouth to reply, matching Heaven's grin as we passed under scones of witchlight when a low, murmured voice caught my attention.

"Jamie? What are you-"

"Shh." I hissed quickly, pulling her against the wall. I slid along it's length, following the voice all the way into the Inquisitor's office where Pluemon stood hunched over a large pensive in the corner. Light flickered off of the water before him, casting bright beams of light all about the room. I peered further around the corner, trying to get a better look at who he was talking to.

He stood with his hands gripping both sides of the pensive, his shoulders hunched and his gray head hanging low as he whispered into the water, his voice cracking and wheezing every now and then. The man looked like he hadn't slept or eaten in days.

"His hand." Heaven murmured, gripping my shoulder. I followed her gaze to our Inquisitor's right arm, traveling downwards until I caught sight of the thick, white gauze wrapped around his palm, seeping with blood although it'd been layered enough to stop a bullet wound.

"His other hand is the same." She whispered to me.

I bit my lip, knowing full well that we'd never be able to hear him from where we were.

Against Heaven's protesting, I dipped into the freezing room, shrinking underneath the man's large, black wooden desk in the corner. I saw his feet turn as he gazed about the room almost in terror, as if he were expecting some sort of demonic creature to emerge from the walls and swallow him whole. Heaven flung herself back against the wall in the corridor, attempting to be unseen.

Pluemon narrowed his beady black eyes, clenching his jaw before I saw something I never thought I would.

He began to cry.

Heaving, trying to muffle his sobs, the man hunched back over the pensive, tears slipping down his long, wrinkled face as he relieved his agony into what he thought was an empty room. What a pussy.

"I-I...I ca-"

"You will!" the water hissed at him quickly, the demonic echo filling the air. My teeth ground together almost instinctively, a habit that had formed ever since Hazel and my cousin had gone missing.

There was her name again. Hazel.

I'd spent hundreds of nights reliving the moment in the morgue, my fingers brushing over her cold body and pale skin as if it weren't really her, as if this life were the dream and I was just waiting to wake up. It had taken me weeks to master my stomach and keep myself from throwing up each time I thought about her dead body.

It'd made me think about what would have happened if I'd had a few extra months, maybe only a few extra weeks to tell her exactly the way she had made me feel.

If I'd known she'd be dead before I could blink, I would've told her in that second.

But my chance was gone. Not only was I faced with the fact that I, in fact, _was _capable of having feelings for somebody, but that once I actually did, it was torn away from me. I never wanted to feel anything again. I rubbed at my chest for a moment, my fingers brushing the marred Rune I'd attempted to place on myself months ago when I'd first met the girl. There was no time to think of that now.

"Master I have so little left to give-"

"You took an oath, Leviticus! I saved the girl and you will hold up your end of the deal!"

"The Clave," Pluemon wheezed. "They know, Master. In time they'll find me out and when they do I won't be able to keep the Portal open much longer."

"I will deal with it when the time comes," the water shot back. "Until then you will continue to watch our young Jamie and you will continue to keep the Portal open."

"Yes, Dominus, I promise it...I..."

"You doubt me Leviticus...have I ever lead you stray?"

"No Master..."

"Our flower will bloom with time and all the world will be right again, and you see? She will destroy the Clave for us, and never again will we have to bend to their rules."

"I remember my own...my Flora..."

"The loss of a child is a grave one," the water agreed somberly. "But look at how our little one blossoms. Look at the striking resemblance between she and your own daughter. Do you not love her as your own?"

"I hate her!" Pluemon spat, gripping the stone even tighter. "Why my daughter? Why she instead of this girl? This abomination?"

"You must come to love her, my Follower. You will learn to appreciate the new world she will create for us."

Pluemon hesitated for a moment, trying to catch his breath.

"Let me see her."

I knit my eyebrows together in disgust, confused and revolted by the way they were speaking. It was like a kidnapper talking about his prized possession, a serial killer proudly displaying the mangled body of his latest victim. It was sickening.

The water seemed to hum lowly, flickering slightly as Pluemon, (or was it Leviticus?) lowered his head further over the pensive, tears slipping down his face again as the water began to glow. I craned my neck over the front of the desk, losing so much focus that the back of my heel caught the end of the desk chair. It bumped against the wall, a short Hungarian dagger slipping from the armory and slicing it's way down my palm.

Pluemon whirled around and I threw myself back underneath the desk, gritting my teeth and grabbing a hold of my Seraph blade. Heaven clamped her hands over her mouth as I gritted my teeth to keep from yelling. I pressed my hand against my jeans, trying to stop the heavy bleeding.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, _I grumbled to myself. _Hazel was the one always tripping over things and now you're acting just like her. You're losing your edge, kid._

Heaven flung her sword at one of the witchlight scones in the hallway, causing it to clatter against the ground and create such a large ruckus that Pluemon stopped his advance towards the desk and skulked out into the corridor, his face twisted up into a mask of fury and fear, no lingering trace of sentimentality left on his features.

"Pluemon?" Byron asked breezily, breaking from the Council members as they flooded the corridors, walking past the Inquisitor's Office. "You look like you haven't slept a wink."

"Old fool," the Inquisitor grumbled, making his way towards an old bookshelf and rattling through a mass amount of bottles before plucking a dark purple one from it's depths and swirling it in his hands. He murmured a few words over the vile before popping off the cork and handing it to Byron, who drank it without question and immediately took on a tired look to his features.

Aaron had been right. Byron was being enchanted. The two men watched each other steadily for a few moments before Pluemon instructed our Consul to keep his mouth shut and return upstairs. The chubby man agreed obediently, Heaven shrinking back into the shadows as Pluemon shut the door behind him.

I sprang out of from underneath the desk, Heaven murmuring rapidly about that being a close call and us needing to leave the room immediately as I stared down at my hand, now dripping with blood.

"-Almost got us caught, do you understand how much trouble we would've gotten in? Let me see that," she grabbed my hand and snatched a cloth from her pocket, smearing away the blood quickly. "I mean honestly Jamie I understand that the man's a psycho but next time you plan on flinging yourself right in someone's sight let me know before I go crazy!"

She left the napkin in my hand, pacing around the room before stopping at the pensive, staring down into it.

"He was talking to someone," I murmured absentmindedly, staring down at my palm. "I think we both know who it was."

"It had to be Dominus," Heaven murmured, gripping the ends of the stone like Pluemon had. "There's nobody else he'd be calling 'Master' or answering to like that."

"So Pluemon's the traitor...we just need to prove it."

"How are we supposed to do that?"

"No clue."

"First we need to figure out why the Inquisitor wants to watch you."

"Second, we need to figure out what the Hell this 'Flower' is and how they plan to use it against the Clave...cause it sounds to me like it's not gonna be pretty." I murmured.

"Everything is happening at once..." Heaven whispered, slightly afraid.

"On the bright side, I think I have the answer to the first question." I murmured, raising my palm up. The cut was gone. In a matter of seconds, what should have been a deep gash in my palm was nothing more than a baby pink soft scar.

"On the dark side, I think I have an answer to the second." Heaven retorted, not looking up at me.

I closed the distance between us quickly, Heaven moving aside for me and watching my reaction as I stared down at the mass of white-blue glowing water, one clear, moving, image floating amongst the liquid.

She was laughing, joking with a new set of people I'd never seen before in my life. Her face was slightly dirty, her messy curls fluttering around her face wildly as she grinned, flashing her perfectly unperfect teeth, my cousin and Thomas sitting at her side as they joked around a large outside fountain.

So this was the Flower.

This was the weapon.

Alive.

Breathing.

Hazel.

* * *

***Authors Note* Hello all, just wanted to give a shout out to the DauntlessNephillimTribute and AmishMafia for their reviews. They've been constructive, encouraging, and Bea-you-tiful23 as well. You're all honestly the only reason this story is continuing, give yourselves a pat on the back and enjoy(:**


	13. Boom Goes The Hazel

**Mark Petrie-Richat**

**~Hazel POV~**

* * *

"You got your bellybutton pierced without me?" Stasi whined in a whisper, her mouth dropping open as she knit her eyebrows together. I swatted her bloody hand away from my stomach, eying her incredulously.

"A bellybutton ring is not our biggest concern right now!" I shouted, shoving her out of the way right as a mound of debris rolled over us.

"We're getting killed out here." Troy wheezed, stumbling into us, his cheek dripping with blood. Stasi grabbed a hold of his face, her fingertips glowing for a moment before the gash on his face disappeared. "Thanks." he breathed quickly.

"Where the Hell are Wheat and the others?" I asked, ducking as another explosion racked against our fortress.

"Wheat's still down on the field unconscious."

"Dead?" I demanded, Troy shook his head, a wave of relief washing over me.

"It doesn't matter," he panted. "If we don't take down this other team, Wheat's will be up for Elim. Hazel, this time we can't rush in and save them just because it starts looking badly. They're gonna die."

I shook my head, peering over our fort of rubble and melted rock. Bodies littered the mock-field, smoking billowing all about the fake sky. Creto had turned the Battle Court into a giant maze shaped like a clock, with exits at the twelve, three, six, and nine. At each exit had laid a mass of materials used to make weapons and shelter. Wheat's fort had been the first to be demolished, almost all of his teammates laying scattered about the ground. I couldn't tell who was dead or alive.

The Battle Court roared to life, the ground shaking as the other team launched another set of missiles at our fort.

"They're not gonna stop until we're all dead!" Stasi cried. "They're coming for us because we're in perfect sight."

"They're coming for us because they know exactly what we can do and they want us fucking dead," Thomas shot quickly, Stasi jumping at the tone of his voice. I shoved at him. "WHAT?" he demanded.

"What the Hell is the matter with you, Man?" Troy demanded.

"Stop!" Stasi pushed herself between the both of them. "It's a full moon tonight okay? He's been having a rough week."

"Yeah? Well tell him to keep his fucking anger under control before I shove my foot up his ass." I hissed. Stasi and Thomas both looked at me wide-eyed, bewildered at my sudden snap of temper.

"There's no way we can take them out all at once," I said quickly, trying to change the subject. "We're doomed."

"Look at you, ever the optimist." Troy grumbled. Another missile was fired, sending all of us sprawling out on our backs. Stasi groaned, clutching her side and turning on the ground as I brushed a hissing piece of coal from my skin. My friend narrowed her eyes.

"Hazel..."

"It's alright," Troy called. "She's fine, I got her."

"No, I mean Hazel!" Stasi cried, heaving me to my feet. "You have to take out the missiles. You're the only one who can take the heat from the guns, if she can push her fire out-"

"Are you kidding me?" I yelled, trying to be heard over the roar of the battle. "I've never done anything that big before."

"We don't have a choice!" The ground was shaking again.

"But I can-"

"WE DON'T HAVE A CHOICE!"

"FINE!" I screamed.

The tips of my fingers exploded immediately and I jumped backwards, staring at my blazing palms and wincing at the burn. I gathered as much energy as I could, standing shakily to my feet before heaving my arm backwards and throwing a blazing orb of flame into the fort across the maze. The ground shook underneath the team, the sky blazing as the fire met the gravel nearly a football field's length away.

"Yeah!" Thomas screamed behind me. "THAT'S WHAT I'M FUCKING TALKING ABOUT!" he was whooping and cheering in the background as I continued throwing fireball after fireball into the air, disintegrating the maze in between each team.

Smoke began to billow up amongst the field almost three times heavier than before, making it nearly impossible to see the other team as they continued launching missile after missile, each of them colliding with my fire in the air and racking the Battle Court like it was a bouncy house. Stasi ran up to my side, grabbing my arms to steady me as the Court rattled again wildly. She snatched her hands away, her skin sizzling at my touch. I looked down at her slightly singed hands wide-eyed, knitting my eyebrows together.

"I'm sor-"

"Don't worry about it," she interrupted quickly, clasping her fingers together as her palms began to glow. Thomas stumbled up to us, putting his hands around her waist as he panted. "You need to aim for the top of their fort. If you can blow it the entire thing will crumble down on itself."

"That might be a problem." Troy murmured gravely, his eyes wide. I followed his gaze across the field to where Miller Ward's team was loading up the heaviest weapon I'd seen all day.

Miller grinned across the field, his gap-toothed grin giving him a sickly pallor when coupled with his pale skin. I could only imagine his beady black eyes glimmering across the field, his face smudged with soot and dirt as he stood with a triumphant arch in his shoulders.

"I can't take that thing out in mid-air no matter how much fire I throw," I wheezed. My mind was racing, the blood rushing through my body so quickly that I was beginning to get lightheaded again. It was the same feeling I'd experienced in the forest, the same weary, dangerously sleepy haze washing over my mind as my body began to work on it's own accord without my help, as if someone were controlling it for me while I slept. "I'm already pushing my luck."

"Fuck it," Troy groaned, shaking his head. "I say we throw caution to the wind and charge through the maze."

"Are you insane?" Stasi challenged. "Hazel's burned half of the damn thing down, even if it _was _functioning properly, there's no telling what Creto's put in there to kill us."

"Throwing caution to the wind it is, then." I breathed, knitting my eyebrows together as I stared at my hands. Although I was growing tired, my flames were still burning as brightly as they had the first night I'd revealed them at the carnival months ago, and I waved my fingers quickly, trying to put it out.

"Or throwing Hazel." Thomas murmured. We all looked at him in confusion and he grinned.

"No," Troy shot immediately. "No, no, absolutely not, no."

"It's the perfect idea!" Thomas spat.

"And what the Hell are we supposed to do when she blows the fuck up?!"

"She won't! You haven't seen Hazel handle fire like we have, she can stand it, I know she can."

"She's never done anything like this before!"

"Look the fuck around my dude!" Thomas cried, waving his arms around at the field. "None of us have done ANYTHING like this before!"

"Guys, we're running out of time!" Stasi yelled, looking to me. I was still panting, a low hum beginning to throb in my ears.

"Fuck this." Thomas growled. He started shaking, his body vibrating as it grew taller, stronger, fur spurting from the follicles in his skin until he was covered in it, standing as a great white wolf in the midst of the fog and haze. He grabbed the back of my shirt before I could protest, my ears humming so loudly I could barely see straight as another team started charging up the side of our fort, Stasi and Troy whipping out their weapons and screaming for us to help them.

The great white wolf roared, a growl slipping through it's teeth as my shirt began to melt and the heat began to radiate towards his skin. Thomas threw me into the air, the wind whipping against my face as the fire shot through my body like a bullet, engulfing me as if I were made of paper.

Miller screamed, his team's weapon shooting into the air within my direct course.

I didn't have time to think.

I didn't have time to move.

The missile hit me head on, igniting at my very touch as we sailed through the air.

A ringing split through the air, the entire Battle Court turning white as the missile exploded in mid-air, debris and plastic and coal and fire raining down on every team present. I could feel the air rushing out of my lungs as drew closer and closer to the maze, the tops of the hedges tearing and ripping at whatever remained of my clothes and skin until I hit the ground with a sickening snap, something breaking in my left side.

The Battle Court was silent.

The world went black.


	14. Like A Wild Animal

**Atli Ovarssen-Where's The Cup?**

**Hans Zimmer- Corynorhinus**

**~Jamie POV~**

* * *

"GET OFF ME!" I screamed, Aaron's weight baring down on my chest. I rolled underneath him, now on my back, swinging my fists wildly at his face while Heaven and Lucy both sat on my legs in an attempt to keep me from kicking them.

It had taken all of them to drag me back to the Institute, and I was literally throwing a temper tantrum.

"Jamie!" Heaven cried, dodging a shoe. "Jamie you need to calm down!"

"TO HELL WITH CALMING DOWN," Darren fired back, grabbing hold of one of my arms. "WE NEED A FUCKING HORSE TRANQUILIZER."

"GET OFF!" I screamed again. One of my fists caught Aaron clean in the jaw, sending him toppling off of me and onto the concrete. I sat up, shoving Heaven into Lucy and crawling free as soon as I was relieved of their weight.

The momentum of my sudden outburst sent me crashing into Darren, and we rolled along the ground until I had enough traction under my feet to kick off and go sprinting for the door.

Luke tackled me almost immediately, the both of us writhing with each other as Simon and Isabelle flung the door to the Common Room open, both of their faces fixated in confusion.

"What the Hell is going on here?!" Simon cried horrifically as Aaron threw himself flat on top of my body once more. I groaned, Luke pinning my hands behind my back and demanding that Lucy hand him a veil of rope.

"Hazel's alive," Heaven wheezed quickly, her breath catching as she began to sniffle. "Hazel's alive an-"

"If Hazel's alive it means that Anastasia-"

"DON'T get ahead of yourself," Luke demanded sharply, pointing a finger at Isabelle. "We're not even sure-"

"SHE _IS ALIVE_!" I screamed, Darren pressing my head against the ground. I stretched my fingers as long as they could go, the tips of them brushing against the end of my Seraph blade. I threw my shoulder back, shifting Aaron and Luke's weight far enough back for me to grip the hilt.

"No, we saw it!" We saw it!" Heaven yelled, now sobbing. It was one of the only times I'd ever seen her cry. "We saw her and she-"

"We don't even know if it's for sure-" Luke was arguing. Isabelle was screaming that he was an idiot.

"-He could be losing his min-"

"-Hallucinati-"

"-We saw it we saw it and nothing that we do is going to-"

"_EZEKIA__L!"_

The Seraph blade exploded in my hands. Aaron screamed, rolling off of my shoulders and giving me just enough space to twist my torso and swing the blade at Luke, who dodged it only by centimeters. He stared up at me wide-eyed as he toppled backwards onto the floor, crawling away from me as I sprang to my feet and twirled the blade in my hands, aiming the tip of it at the room before me.

The only audible sound in the room was my heavy breathing and the sound of Heaven's sobs. I kept my eyes on her for a moment, her usually creamy face now flushed pink and stained with tears. She was crying in Lucy's arms, the Asian girl stroking her hair affectionately. The room began to spin as I thought of the way they cared for each other.

That was the way I needed to be caring for Hazel right now.

I needed to be with her.

I needed to find her.

I needed to save her.

I shoved past Luke, sprinting down the hallway with my friends and family following me like I was a madman on the loose.

I didn't blame them.

The air was rushing past my face as Simon ordered in the Guards, both of them seemingly appearing out of nowhere and blocking my path to an exit. I swiveled on my heels, facing everyone I'd upset, daring them to come close to me.

"Jamie...don't..."

Before they could blink, I swung on my heels and dipped underneath the arms of the Guards, sprinting clear across the courtyard. Several people shouted in protest as I knocked over their books and homework and sent their papers scattering across the lawn by accident.

Teachers and Guards alike were pouring out of the classrooms like water as I dipped and weaved underneath them, no one able to grab a hold of me as I ran. I wasn't even sure where I was going.

I sprinted to the top of the Astronomy Tower, Luke close on my heels as I took the steps three at a time, throwing the door shut behind me.

They exploded through it anyways just as I pounced on the desk and kicked one of the windows clear through, ready to jump.

"IF YOU GO NOW, YOU'LL GET HER KILLED!"

I paused, turning towards Luke slowly as the rest of them filed quickly into the room.

I clenched my jaw, the air rushing past my teeth so quickly I started to feel lightheaded. My grip never loosened on the Seraph Blade.

"...Jamie..."

I looked at Isabelle, who was watching me like I was a wild animal. It was exactly how I felt, like a cornered tiger, ready to slaughter anything in it's way even if it was it's own family. To add to the list of things that were going through my head, I was now disgusted with myself.

"I have to get her..." they were the only words I was able to get out at the time, my voice cracking on the last one. "I have to...God, she's alive and I...God..."

"We'll get her," Luke assured softly. "Jamie if you're positive about what you saw then I promise we will do everything in our power to save her but we cannot do that if you run through Alicante killing everyone in your path do you understand?"

"But I-"

"No, Jamie," he said more firmly, raising his hands in defense and standing a little straighter. "If Pluemon is behind this, he'll alert Creto as soon as he knows you know...are you listening to me? Right now we have the upper hand and we need to keep it, or else there's a chance you will never see Hazel or Anastasia again."

I watched him for a moment, searching his face for any hint of a lie, any doubt in himself. If I'd seen the slightest insecurity in his plans I would have cut him down immediately and hunted Pluemon like a lion.

Luke kept his steady gaze on me, Heaven still crying in the background as the Seraph blade clattered to the floor and I sank to my knees. I buried my face in my hands.

"Oh my God..." I wheezed. "Luke...there's..."

The man lowered to his knees next to me, hesitating a moment before wrapping me in his arms, grabbing the back of my neck with one of his hands and holding me to his shoulder. I didn't cry. Not then. I was heaving. I was trying to catch my breath. It was like all the air had been sucked from my lungs and as punishment for my actions it refused to return. I grabbed onto Luke, shaking my head.

"There's something wrong with me." I whispered, staring at the floor as he continued to hold me.

"There's not," Isabelle argued, sinking to her knees in front of us and pressing her forehead to mine, putting her arm around my free shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with you, do you hear me? We all miss them. We all love them," she looked at everyone else in the room who watched us warily, ready to throw themselves on top of me should there be another need. "Leave us." she ordered.

Everybody was careful not to touch me as they brushed towards the door, Isabelle planting a kiss on my forehead as she scooted closer.

"Nothing is wrong with you," she murmured again, tilting my chin up to look at her. "Jamie this is what happens when you..._love _somebody and it-"

"I don't love her!" I shot quickly, shaking my head. Isabelle frowned.

"There's no use lying to yourself about it_," _she said softly. "Believe me Love, I've tried it myself. It never gets easier, and it never stops. And if your parents already told you about your particular bloodline, you'll know you will always love her."

"Why?" I demanded. "This is bullshit, this is stupid, I hate her, I can't even...why her? Out of all of the ones I could have had why her?"

"It's a freak accident Jamie, nobody decides but the Angels. If it weren't her, it would only be someone else."

"I could get her killed."

"We could all get her killed."

"I don't know so much about that anymore," Luke grumbled. "She seems like more of a hazard than we are."

I scoffed humorlessly.

"Besides," Isabelle smiled. "Who better to handle you than someone just as stubborn? If she's made it this far, _she can make it even farther. _You have to have faith in her, Love. You have to have faith in us all."

"I just want them back." I groaned. Isabelle nodded.

"So do I, Jamie...so do I."


	15. Hanging By A Thread

**Zack Hemsey-See What I've Become**

**~Hazel POV~**

* * *

I heaved in a large gush of air, my eyes snapping open as the haze of sleep left my body. Immediately I began to writhe, finding that not only was I out of breath, but that I could barely move.

"INITIATES!"

I jumped as the roar of a crowd filtered through my ears, piercing my skull like a blade. The light coming from around me made me wince, pain flooding my eyes as I forced them open, still squinting slightly when Zane opened his mouth and demanded more cheering. My knees were drawn to my chest and I buried my face in them, squeezing my eyes shut as if this were all a nightmare and I was waiting to wake up. The shackles around my wrists and ankles were freezing against my skin.

"ARE YOU READY FOR AN ELIMINATION?!"

More cheering. Shit.

No, no, no, no, no, this wasn't supposed to be happening.

We had beat the other team. We had taken them out and Thomas had thrown me into the missile they'd fired and it had taken them out. They should've been in the Eliminations with Wheat's Team.

Unless someone on his team had been alive. Unless someone laying down on that field had been smart enough to play dead and wait for the other teams to tear each other apart.

I swiveled my head around immediately, panicking as I realized I was in a small glass box that hovered twenty feet above the ring of the arena. There were six boxes in all, three filled with half of my team and three filled with members of the opposite. I craned my neck around as far as I could, dozens of Initiate's faces shooting expressions my way as they watched from their seats. They were close enough to see me panicking, and some began to laugh.

I looked down. Under each of our boxes was a large glass tank shaped like a rectangle and filled to the brim with several different substances. Taking a closer look, I realized that a different death awaited for each of us, should the trapdoors of our boxes be opened. Underneath Stasi, a tank full of mutated crabs with six inch pincers sharpened to a ferocious point. Underneath Miranda, a girl with strawberry blonde hair that had the ability to mimick anyone's voice to perfection after hearing it only once, was a tank full of fish with teeth so sharp it made my skin crawl. Piranhas.

After her, came a girl with a tank full of black sludge, so dark that I couldn't even tell what it was. As I watched the slime shift in an inhuman motion, slithering under it's own surface until it was still again, I realized that I didn't want to find out. The girl next to her was hanging over a tank of pure acid, her tank lined with metal just so the liquid wouldn't eat through the glass. To my right, a girl huddled up in her box dangled over boiling oil. Taking a deep gulp, I looked down at the tank underneath my own box.

Eels slithered frantically in the water, their skin crackling the liquid with an unnatural amount of mutant electricity, their teeth flashing brilliantly in the cave light as they swam. I laid my head back against the side of my box, heaving in a deep sigh and refusing to let any water spill over my eyes. They would not see me cry before death. Jamie wouldn't have been crying if he were in my position, and so neither would I. I needed to be brave.

"Now I know, I know, we thought our boy Miller was going to pull through and make it to the finals didn't we?" The crowd whined in agreement. "Trust me, I lost twenty bucks betting on his team, and if he loses again tonight, I'm out forty," he pointed to Miller, who was stationed on our side of the arena with his two other male teammates. Each of the male competitors was blocked off from the arena by a set of iron bars. My eyes drifted to Thomas, Troy, and Keenan-the three males from our team, who were stationed underneath the three other girls. "Last night some very beautiful team assets were taken from you and your male teammates. Each male teammate has a number located on the back of his neck, a number," he paused for dramatic affect, raising his pointer finger slowly to my glass box. "That when entered into the box locks, will free one of your lady friends. The color of the number on the back of the boy's neck corresponds with the color of the lock on each box."

"But there's a catch," he grinned. "When this buzzer goes off, a five minute timer will begin to count down. That means one male member from each team will be released into the arena and have five minutes to kill his opponent and free his female friend. If he should fail to do so, his female teammate will be dropped into her box of horrors and terribly mutilated. After the first box is opened, the timer for the second will start, and when the second box is opened, the timer for the third will start. ARE YOU READY?"

The crowd began cheering again and I immediately searched around my box, finding that the lock on it was a royal blue. My eyes traveled across the arena as I pressed my hands and face to the glass, watching as a girl on the other team began to sob uncontrollably in the air.

Zane's pedestal rose in the arena, right in the middle of us and the ground. They boy rubbed his hands together greedily.

"The last team standing, wins."

Each boy on our team had an opponent, who, with the number on the back of said opponent's neck, held the key to our freedom. And they had five minutes to find it.

The roar of the crowd was deafening in my ears, my eyes widening as adrenaline started pumping through my body like a pollutant in my bloodstream. The crowd began a countdown, my breath catching with each passing number as Zane lead them on.

_10._

_9._

_8._

_7._

_6._

_5._

_4._

_3._

_2._

_1._


	16. Eliminated

**Mark Petrie-Puma Punka**

**Mark Petrie- Surpass**

**Two Steps From Hell-Archangel**

**Audiomachine-Blitzkrieg**

* * *

The iron bars began to sink into the ground in front of Thomas, who clenched his jaw at the sight of the bulky blonde boy who was about to try to kill him. The boy's bars began to sink in front of him too, and as soon as they were below knee-length, he shot off into the arena, ripping his bow from his back and loading an arrow so quickly I'd barely been able to follow his movements.

Troy ripped his magnificent sword from the hilt, his wrists snapping and twisting to swing the blade through the air. The edge of it split through every arrow the boy shot at him, the pieces of wood splintering off into tiny bits and ricocheting off of his body. They sprinted across the arena, their eyes locked on each other as the boy fired and fired again and again, Troy deflecting everything he shot.

As soon as he was within arms reach, the boy swung his bow around to the front of him and ripped it off of his shoulders, throwing it around Troy's neck and swinging his back towards him. Troy dropped his sword, his knees buckling as the air was shoved out of throat. The boy grinned, the string of the bow pressed in on my teammate's throat, a thin trail of blood dripping down into his collar bone as the boy tried to choke him. Troy groaned, writhing in the boy's grip as he ripped a dagger from his belt and brought it down through the air.

I screamed, pressing my face against the glass as the blade soared down towards Troy's chest. My friend threw his arm into the air, allowing the dagger to cut through his forearm. With his other hand, he snatched the sword from the ground, swinging wildly behind him and stabbing at any bit of skin that he could. I glanced at the clock. Three minutes left.

The boy recoiled, eventually pulling the dagger from Troy's arm and jumping backwards to avoid being stabbed. Troy rolled underneath the string of the the bow and grabbed both sides of it, both of his hands around the boy's. He pulled his arms up and over the boy's head, taking the bow with him so that his opponent was now the one trapped. The boy spun around in an attempt to get free and Troy pressed his boot against the boy's chest, pulling the string of the bow back and letting it snap into his opponent's face.

As the boy wailed, writhing with his hands over his cheek, Troy picked up his sword once again, holding his injured left arm against his torso. The boy recovered quickly, pulling an arrow from his shoulders and flinging it in Troy's direction, missing his face by inches. There was thirty seconds left on the clock and I began screaming, wondering which one of us was about to die.

"TROY!" I screeched, banging on the glass. It wiggled slightly, racking my nerves. "TROY!" No matter how loud I yelled, he couldn't hear me. Zane was laughing quietly to himself.

Who would it be, then? Would it be me? Would it be Miranda? Would it be Stasi? I began ripping at my shackles, some kind of futile attempt to set myself free as my box rocked back and forth.

"Hey!" Zane called. "You be careful sweetheart, you might kill YOURSELF if you keep that up."

The crowd laughed as if it were funny.

Thomas was clinging to his iron bars, his gaze locked on Stasi as she banged on her box, watching him and screaming something that I couldn't understand. Zane and the crowd began to count down again as the clock started flashing a bright florescent neon blue.

"_10...9...8!"_

Troy swung his sword in an upward arc catching the boy in the chin before he planted a roundhouse kick to his chest, sending the boy crashing onto his back. His body hit the dirt with a thud, sand and gravel poofing up into the air for a moment around him as Troy, keeping one foot on the boy's chest, dug the blade of his sword straight into his breastbone and twisted. I looked at the clock again. Five seconds.

Troy was on the other side of the arena. Even if he were to get the number, he'd never have time to save whoever fell. Stasi was still screaming at Thomas, who was covering his mouth in fear and bouncing on his heels in anxiety across the arena. I began beating on my box, tears threatening to spill over my eyes as three seconds passed.

The clock began to buzz and a loud snap echoed through the air as the bottom of Stasi's box swung open, her shackles weighing her down as she fell through the air.

"NO!" I was screeching, clawing at the walls as she squeezed her eyes shut, Troy stumbling over his opponent's dead body. The crabs in the tank snapped their pincers excitedly. Thomas was on his knees, his hands creating dents in the iron bars as he watched his girlfriend fall to her death.

At the same time, the girl on the opposite side of the arena from Staci, screeched and her box swung open as well. The black sludge in her tank began to bubble, a large, snakelike creature with glistening black teeth exploding out of the liquid like a fountain. It caught her in midair, it's teeth piercing her torso like she were made of paper and swinging her down into the slime. She was gone in seconds.

Troy sprinted as far as he could before he threw his arm forward, a large icicle spurting from his palm and sailing into the air. It split the side of Stasi's tank, the entire structure freezing over before she even had a chance to touch it. The water, the mutated crabs, even the side of the glass was an entire block of ice.

Stasi hit it hard, landing on her back with a loud crack. Her shackles dented the ice, sending chunks of it flying up into the air as she rolled over and into the dirt. She glanced at the tank and did a double-take, the frozen eyes of a hungry crab staring at her through the glass as she began to cry tears of relief, laying her head back down on the dirt and staring at the cave ceiling. The girl in the opposite tank bubbled up to the surface, her body faced down and covered in blood as the snake began picking at her skin.

The crowd was screaming again, some in disappointment and others in sheer excitement. It was then that I realized no one here was on anybody's side. This was all about putting on a show. I was hyperventilating, my voice wheezing although I wasn't saying any words, the air in my lungs rushing in and out in dry sobs.

The victory was short lived, the neon clock buzzing again and restarting the countdown from two minutes as Thomas' bars slid down in front of him, Miller's doing the same. Troy staggered over to Staci, gathering her up in his arms and retreating to the wall of the arena where they slumped down together, Staci holding his injured arm to heal him.

Immediately after setting foot on the field, Miller broke into a sprint, his Sai blades glinting in the light as he spun them. Thomas simply laughed, shaking his head as his body began to vibrate, the clothes on his body tearing as his muscles began to bulge, his form growing larger and larger. He began to sprout fur, his nose elongating into a snout with glaring teeth hidden underneath. Staci was watching in amazement at the sight of the transformation, Miller stopping dead in his tracks.

"THIS ISN'T FAIR!" He screamed. Zane shrugged simply.

"Life's not fair. Am I right people?!"

The crowd screeched in agreement, Thomas, now a full wolf, snarling dangerously at his opponent. Miller spun on his heels, sprinting towards Staci's frozen box of death. Thomas galloped after him as Miller jumped onto the side of the box, using it as leverage and arcing his body backwards as he threw one of his blades towards the chain on the ceiling that had held Staci's box in place.

The sword lodged itself cleanly in between two chinks, the entire box snapping and pulling apart from the ceiling as Miller rolled through the air, landing directly on Thomas's shoulders. The box hit the frozen block with a loud split, glass exploding in every direction. Thomas recoiled and Miller snatched up the chain that had held it in place, attempting to wrap it around Thomas's neck. Three minutes left.

The wolf whined, it's eyes rolling backwards as Miller began to smirk on his shoulders. Staci started screaming, Troy holding her back as she attempted to claw her way through the gravel. Thomas growled sharply at the sound of her voice, throwing himself backwards so that Miller was underneath his weight.

The boy screamed, crushed by the giant wolf, his bones snapping so loudly you could hear them echo through the cave. Miller was screeching, tears streaming down his face as Thomas rolled off of him, digging his teeth into his neck and thrashing about wildly with his throat. As soon as Miller's gurgled screams were no longer audible, the wolf stripped off his jeans, shaking down into human form and pulling them on like a sign of victory.

The crowd was eating it up, going wild and screaming like a bunch of madmen.

Thomas rolled Miller over with his foot, eying the number on his neck for only seconds before sprinting across the cave and beginning to ascend the ladders in between our boxes. He crawled all the way up the thirty foot high rungs with a minute left on the clock when he reached the catwalk that nestled above all of us. He sprinted towards Miranda, and guiltily, my heart sank.

I was the last one.

I still had a chance of dying.

There was a conflict rising in my stomach as I watched him dial the numbers in her combination lock, a conflict having to deal with my readiness to be saved while this poor girl might have sat there in her box for the third round.

Troy's words from nearly weeks ago echoed in the back of my mind. _Better them than us. _It had never felt more true, and in recognizing that feeling, a horror overcame me. What was I turning into? The first Elimination I'd ever seen involved me sprinting into the path of death for complete and utter strangers, yet here I was, ready to sacrifice one of my teammates in the hope that I would survive.

I leaned my head against the side of the tank, watching bitterly as Thomas lifted Miranda out of her glass box with ease, the crowd cheering as he stood her on her feet, raising on of his fists victoriously. I wrinkled my nose as I watched her cry. _Shut up,_ I hissed in my thoughts. _Why cry when you made it out alive?_

"It's getting pretty serious ladies and gentleman!" Zane called, the crowd cheering in excitement.

"This isn't fair!" Cried the last member of Miller's team, watching as the clock finished counting down for the last round. "It isn't fair!"

"You're right," Zane shrugged. "Half your team is already dead. The question is whether or not you're willing to let them die in vain. Am I right people?!"

The crowd screamed yes.

"See if _I _were you," Zane sat down nonchalantly as the buzzer went off, the girl across the arena from Miranda's box screeching as the glass underneath her swung open, dropping her into the acid. She splashed around in the liquid, crying out in pain as the flesh on her bones was seared away. Zane shot her an annoyed look as if she were screaming too loud for him to continue his speech. "If I were you," he repeated. "I'd make it so that no matter what, that girl right there didn't survive." he pointed at me, the blood rushing to my face as people began throwing things at the box.

Creto watched from the Judgement Panel, one of his eyebrows raised at me as I struggled in my glass prison.

"I would make sure that even though this team is going to live tonight, that they don't do so without losing something. It's only justified, right people?!"

They all screamed, the last boy of Miller's team glaring at me with a darkness unknown to man as his bars began to lower. Keenan, the last opponent of my team, began tapping his foot anxiously, his jaw clenching as he gripped the side of his Heroit blade, the black metal glimmering gloriously in the witchlight that surrounded us.

The timer started the five minute countdown once more, and the two boys went after each other.

I leaned my head back against the box, unsure of whether or not I wanted to watch. Staci and Troy and Thomas and Miranda were all safe up against their walls, in their safe little worlds, with their safe little safeness and here I was dangling over a pit of electric eels.

The palms of my hands began to tingle and the urge to melt everything in this box and set myself free was overwhelming, but I already knew that cheating could cost us exile into the Forest and the possibility of never getting home, if not death.

The crowd was screaming behind me, ooh's and ahh's and booing and cheering being thrown about the cave but no amount of shouting could tear me away from my thoughts. My palms began to burn, pain seeping up my arms as I began thinking of Genevieve, and my foster parents, and my life at home before Jamie Lightwood had ever found me. I was here because of him. I had lost everything, because of him.

But still, even as I dangled in a glass box, minutes away from possible death, I couldn't bring myself to wish that he'd never found me. It would mean losing Staci, and Aaron, and Lucy and Heaven and Darren. It meant losing my _real _team, the team of people who had found me and given me a home and a place of importance and answers that I'd been looking for since I was a child.

I began thinking about my parents.

Would they have already saved me by now? Would they have already found me?

I let my eyes travel about the crowd aimlessly as I waited to die, two minutes left on the clock as a sudden roar exploded out of the people, whooping and laughing and cheering louder than I'd ever heard it before. My breath hitched, my face pressing against the glass as I spotted something in the crowd.

He was tall, somewhat olive-skinned with a Sanskrit tattoo encircling his entire upper arm, his bright blue-green eyes meeting mine as he watched me from the crowd. His dark hair curled around the bottom of his ears, his full lips occupying most of the bottom half of his face. I squinted my eyes, wondering whether or not I was really staring at my father, or if the idea of being so close to death was messing with my mind.

There was a scream from the arena and reflexively I looked down, Miller's last teammate grinning triumphantly as he stood over Keenan's mutilated body.

My heart stopped.

Anastasia was screaming louder than ever, Thomas rocking her back and forth as she sobbed into is shirt, Troy flying up the rungs of the ladders as if he could do anything to actually save me. My eyes locked onto Miller's teammate, who was still watching, a hollow smile forming on his face as he stared like a madman.

My eyes flickered to the girl in the box across the arena from me, tears streaming down her face as she screeched for him to go save her, begged for him to get her out as he stood there, deaf to her crying. My stomach turned. He didn't care about her survival. He cared about my death.

The clock was counting down by thirty seconds now, Troy dropping to his knees on the catwalk above me and yanking ferociously at my chain, his hands clasped around the lock in the attempt to freeze it off as the crowd began to chant wildly.

I was beating on the top of the box, screaming for him to open it as my hands began to crackle, burning so brightly Troy had to squint his eyes to keep focus. I kicked my feet as far out as I could, the box rattling as five seconds blared on the clock.

"_7...6...5...4!"_

"IT WON'T OPEN!" Troy screamed, ripping the lock free and trying to pry the glass open. "HAZEL I'M SORRY. LOOK AT ME, I'M SORRY!" he was banging on the glass, our eyes locked as we tried to push through the barrier that kept us apart. "I'M SO SORRY!" I'M SO-"

The clock buzzed, the door swinging open beneath me as Troy leaned over the side of the catwalk to grab me, his fingertips barely brushing mine before I was out of reach, the weight of the shackles dragging me towards the ground.

The crowd screamed.

Troy screamed.

I hit the water.


	17. Silent

**~Stasi POV~**

**Dumbledore's Farewell-Nicholas Hooper**

* * *

They had taken us in our sleep. They had given us no time to barter, no time to explain why we hadn't won our challenge in the Battle Court. They'd put the girls in tanks, dangling over some sort of horrific death, the boys waking up behind iron bars and not knowing what the Hell was going on. This place was sick. This place was cruel.

And it was about to cost me the best friend I'd ever had.

Thomas was holding me back as I writhed in his arms, his grip like a vice lock around my torso as I squirmed and screamed. Troy had tried to save her. He' ran quicker than I'd ever seen him. The truth was that he'd loved Hazel almost as much as we did. She was his best friend. She was _my _best friend. It was a thought that startled me seeing as only ten minutes ago, I'd been thankful that I was saved. Ten minutes ago, I hadn't even been thinking of her.

This place was turning us into monsters. It was supposed to teach us about self-preservation above all, about not trusting anyone but yourself, and I could only sob at thinking about how well it was working. I looked up at the Judgment Panel, Creto's panicked expression setting off alarms in the back of my mind. He never expected Hazel to die. He'd never expected his prized possession, his wild experiment to come to an end so quickly.

The crowd screeched as the bottom of Hazel's box swung open. The girl sailed through the air, her shackles flying upwards as gravity pulled her further and further down, all of us watching in horror as we realized there was absolutely nothing we could do.

"Anastasia, Anastasia, breathe, you're fine, I got you, I got you," Thomas was murmuring hastily into my hair as he rocked me back and forth, my entire body shaking with sobs as Hazel hit the crackling water, her chains thudding heavily against the tank. The eels slithered around frantically, excited and terrified at the girl's presence. The water crackled and hissed, spewing electricity all about the tank until finally it was silent as stone.

My skin crawled as the water flickered like lightening in a box, Hazel's body writhing around and twitching for minutes that felt like hours until finally she was still. I screamed again, the noise falling out of my mouth before I could stop it as Troy slumped on the catwalk, burying his face in his hands. Creto tried to cover his face in a hard, calm expression, failing terribly as he sat down slowly in his seat, his Council members eying him warily.

I buried my face into Thomas' chest. It felt like being shot in the chest, time and time again. It felt like all the heat had left the world. Hazel was gone. For the first time in history, the arena was silent.

* * *

**How are you guys liking the story so far? I'm loving your reviews, they're making me very happy (:**


	18. Awakened

**S****ilent Hill-Alessa's Harmony(Extended)**

~**Jamie POV~**

* * *

"How is it that no one else has noticed this?" Heaven whispered quietly, the leaves brushing across her face as the wind blew. I lowered my binoculars, Pluemon's form dark and small against the surface of the lake as he called out several enchantments, a dagger in one hand and a vile of blue liquid in the other. I bit my lip.

"Who knows," I answered back. In all honesty, there was only one person on my mind and Heaven knew that. She also knew it tore me a part that I could only think of Hazel when my other friends were trapped with Creto as well, but she was polite enough not to point out my disgusting behavior. "My guess is that he's not the only traitor we've got on our side."

"I understand," she murmured. "I think we need a plan. We need pictures, proof, something. We could've at least told Luke, Simon, Isabelle..._somebody."_

"I did tell somebody," I grinned, stuffing the binoculars in my bookbag and slinging it over my shoulder. "I told you."

"That doesn't count!" Heaven hissed as I dropped from the tree almost silently, wading through the thick branches and bushes towards the lake. Pluemon dragged the dagger across both of his palms, his blood dripping into the lake and causing it to shimmer and bubble violently.

"What are you doing?" Heaven whispered into my ear nervously, gripping one of my shoulders tightly. I looked at her, placing a quick kiss on the top of her forehead.

"Making an irrational decision," I answered quickly. "If I'm not back in three days, feel free to sound the alarm."

"Sound the- Jamie what the Hell are you talking abo-" I cut her off, sprinting through the branches as Pluemon dipped underneath the surface of the water. "Jamie don't!"

I ignored her, of course.

There were only a few things I was absolutely sure of in this world.

One, was that opportunities rarely present themselves to you without some sort of interference from yourself, and so it's best to grab a hold of them while you can.

Two, was that very rarely will you find someone who makes you do things as stupid as what I was about to do.

Three, was that when in doubt, you needed to follow your gut.

I splashed into the lake, jumping head first beneath the surface and following the sight of Pluemon's small, weak frame as it paddled to the endless bottom, a bright glowing Portal awaiting him in the rocks.

_Just hold on, Hazel, _I thought hastily, kicking my way to the bottom. _I'm coming for you._

* * *

~**Hazel POV~**

* * *

Everything is black, and twitchy, and freezing. I can feel the eels still slithering about my body as it rests on the bottom of this cold glass tank, but there's nothing I can do about it. All I can do is lay here and pray. Maybe they'll pull me out of the water. Maybe I'll be able to feel my toes again. Maybe I'll be able to speak.

None of those prayers are answered though, and while I've never been a particularly religious person, I still find myself disappointed. I wasn't ready to die. Not like this, anyways. I'd always imagined dying a legend. Maybe in the middle of saving the world, or an orphan. Shit, I'd take "death by saving a cat out of a tree" at this point.

_Hazel. Hazel._

There's a woman calling my name. She's quiet, and soft, and has bright orange eyes but no face. I can't find her in the dark, although I don't expect to. It's too black in here to see. _Hazel. Hazel._

_Yes?_ I ask softly, unable to move my mouth.

_Are you scared, Hazel?_

_No,_ I whisper. _Just disappointed._

_Do you know who I am, Hazel?_

_The woman,_ I answer immediately, unsure of how I know. _The woman from Lake Lyn._

_I loved the man who gave you life, Hazel._

_My Father?_

_Your real Father. Nathaniel._

_The woman of Lake Lyn. You make the pretty sunsets._

_Are you ready to die, Hazel?_

_No. _

_Will you let me help you?_

My fingers begin to burn, a splitting headache slicing through my body out of nowhere. One second I was numb. One second I was dead. What is this? This throbbing, pulsing feeling. I know this feeling. I've been here before. In the forest. In the Battle Court. I know this feeling.

_You've been here this whole time,_ I whisper. _You give me fire._

_We, my Love, _the woman corrects me. _Your Father and I give you this fire._

_Why does it hurt?_

_Because you're trying to control it. You try to restrict yourself, my Dear. Let me in. Let me help._

_But last time...Nick..._

_Nick was a foolish boy, _the woman spits harshly. _Let me in. And they will all know to never hurt you. _

_Now I'm afraid._

_Don't be. I am with you. Let me in. It's inside of you, Hazel. I will show you who you are. I will show you._

_But I'm already dead._

_Nonsense. Eels. Are they stupid? What do eels create, love?_

_Electricity._

_And what sparks a flame?_

_Electricity._

_Silly silly people thinking they could kill you this way. You have two options. Die here. Die as they wished you to. Or show them your true power._

_Aren't I already dead?_

_Not yet, _she whispers. _I can save you. I can show you your own power._

_Will it hurt?_

_Only a little. Let me in. Let me in. Let me in._

I allow the throbbing to pulsate all over my body, every fiber of my being growing heavier and heavier until a burning explodes in my chest, the headache splitting me in half, slicing every part of my soul into little bitty pieces. I can hear the water crackling around me, the eels floating up towards the surface of the water as they lose their lives, the glass groaning underneath the pressure of all the sudden power.

_Let me in. Let me in._

I release any attempt to control myself, any desire to keep myself perfectly together as the burning spreads throughout my body, electrifying every nerve as it takes on a whole new weight, a whole new form. Suddenly I AM the electricity.

I am the fire, I am the burning.

I am a new life, rising from the ashes like a Phoenix in the fog.

There is no disappointment left in my body.

No sadness, no weakness, no fear. I am not ashamed of dying this way.

I am no longer terrified.

I am angry.


	19. Stranger

**Mark Petrie-Kara Kul**

~**Stasi POV~**

* * *

"Oh my God..."

I followed the line of Thomas' terrified gaze across the arena, where the water in Hazel's tank had begun to crackle once more. The eels were floating lifelessly about the surface as the liquid flickered with brilliant blue and white light, the girl's body twitching inhumanly as the shackles were burned away from her body. The melted iron slid off of her skin, landing in a heap against the glass.

Everyone had stopped what they were doing, Creto's face pressed against the glass in the Judgment Panel as he and his Counsil watched with a mixture of fear and amazement. Troy leaned over the side of the catwalk, his eyebrows knit together in confusion as the light from the water danced across his skin.

Hazel's hand shot out of the water, her knuckles bright red and glowing as they gripped the side of her glass box. The sides of it were cracking, bolts of lightening flickering across the water and poking holes in the box wherever the tips of it ended. She gripped the side of the tank, the box still flickering as lightening danced across her sopping wet skin, the shackles laying in a melted heap of iron at the bottom of her tank. The entire arena was as still as ever, no one daring to make a move or a sound. Thomas had dragged me across the arena and was banging on one of the entryways, screaming for someone to open it and let us out.

Hazel writhed in the tank again, her expression pained as lightening shot out of the water into every which direction, slicing through the neon clock that had buzzed her to her death. It exploded, it's golden letters disintegrating into ashes and metal and broken light, raining down on us like firework debris.

It was like watching her drown all over again as she twisted and bended, her mass of curls floating wildly around her face.

I could hear her screaming underneath the surface, not quite awake and not quite sleeping as the light flickered so violently around her I wondered how she hadn't yet shocked herself to death. She was kicking against the side of the glass, screaming, clawing at herself until finally a bolt of lightening snapped against the glass, her entire tank exploding as the arena was blinded with white light.

Thomas pulled me into his chest protectively, shielding my face as glass flew against our skin, followed by mist and the smell of burning wood. Hazel fell forward on her hands and knees, glass and eels and crackling water alike spewing onto the ground around her and leaking out into the arena as she heaved in breath after breath, her skin still crackling wildly. The girl looked up, her expression a mixture of amusement and worry as the lightening continued crackling rapidly all about the arena. It slid across the gravel like serpents, hissing and flickering and seeking out any enemy it could find.

She glanced at the boy who had killed Keenan, the last one on Miller's team. A bolt of her lightening slithered across the ground, winding it's way up his legs and around his throat, the boy screeching and crying as it tormented him. His body twitched and sizzled in the gravel as the lightening burned through his veins, his clothes melting against his skin as he died. Hazel grinned slightly, my skin crawling.

She looked at me, a gasp flying out of my lips as Troy dropped down to the ground next to us, winding an arm around my shoulder.

"How the Hell is this even possible?" He breathed, watching her as she tried walking, her legs bending underneath her like a newborn deer.

"Her eyes," I breathed. "Look at her eyes."

Troy followed my gaze, his mouth dropping open at the sight of her. Hazel's eyes, a usual green/brown color with flecks of gold in them, were now a dark brown, nearly black that was unrecognizable to anyone who knew her.

"Hazel?" I squeaked. Her eyes snapped to mine, fading to a dark brown as a new look washed over her face. It was like she didn't know who she was or where she was at, some kind of helplessness flooding her features.

Hazel looked like she was still drowning, sucking in water and air at the same time as she tried stumbling towards us, tears rolling down her red face.

"We have to help her," Troy murmured, Thomas grabbing a hold of his arm "She's confused."

"She's DEADLY, dude." Thomas spat. "Do you wanna end up like charred barbecue?"

"She's my best friend." Troy argued.

"She's fucking psycho." My boyfriend hissed. I wriggled out of his grasp, following in Troy's footsteps as he slowly made his way towards the girl.

Hazel groaned in pain again, throwing herself onto her back and writhing once more as another bright flooded the cave, everyone covering their eyes as a loud crack echoed off of the walls. I moved my hand away from my face slowly, my mouth dropping open.

Hazel was on her hands and knees again, her soaking wet hair clinging wildly to her face as she panted on the gravel. The Earth underneath her was charred black, a strip of burnt gravel extending from underneath her body all the across the arena and up the side of the cave wall. It split through the crowd, several skeletons sitting in the place of where Initiate's had been only seconds ago. The mark traveled through the crowd, leaving a trail of bodies until it reached the cave ceiling. Everyone was silent once more, Zane peering over the side of his pedestal at the small girl with the newly blackened eyes.

"Now that..." he said softly into his microphone. "Is what I CALL AN ELIMINATION!"

The crowd cheered, Hazel knitting her eyebrows together for a moment before a small smile played at the corner of her lips. She looked more confused than we were. Zane continued egging on the crowd, all of them cheering and whooping, chanting her name so loudly that if she didn't remember it then, she remembered it now.

"Don't!" she called quickly, putting a hand out to stop us as we moved to help her. Lightening flickered across her fingertips. "I don't know how to...I might..."

"Shh," Troy scolded. The toes of his shoes began to freeze over, the ice traveling up his legs and torso, over his arms and neck and face until he was one giant man-sculpture of ice, wrapping his jacket around her and heaving her to her feet.

"Cool t-trick." she stuttered, trying to smile.

"Look who's talking," he whispered. "Hazel...do you even have any idea what you just did?"

She followed his gaze across the arena, her eyes following the mark her lightening bolt had left behind in the crowd. There was a new look about her, something that made her seem like a stranger and an old friend all in one. Her eyes, now dark brown, were unrecognizable. She looked like she'd lost ten pounds in a matter of five minutes, giving her face a more slender and defined look. Hazel staggered on her feet, as if she'd grown a few inches and wasn't quite used to the height yet.

"Did I kill them?" she asked somberly, staring at the skeletons in the crowd. "Those people that tried to hurt us?"

"You did." I murmured. Hazel's dark eyes flickered to me for a moment before glancing back at the dead bodies. Her face took on an expression I hadn't seen her wear yet. It was a mixture of victory and self-loathing, and a level of pride I'd never seen her reach before.

"Good," she whispered, earning a look from each of us. Some of the other Initiate's and crowd members had stormed the arena, throwing confetti and silly string and other party bullshit into the air although they were careful not to touch the girl. Hazel grinned slowly. "Remember what you said awhile back, Troy?" she glanced at the boy, who knit his eyebrows together at her attitude.

"I'm not sure." he murmured. I didn't like this. I didn't like this at all.

"Better them than us," she smiled, staring up into the air where people were popping champagne bottles. "_Better them than us._"

* * *

**SO, what do you guys think?! What do you think is gonna happen to Hazel? Also, I need your guys' opinions. Some readers really don't like lemons, and prefer timeskips (sex scenes in which you make it clear that they're having sex and then move along without any details) however, some readers LOVE juicy details and lemons. I will not say WHO or WHEN but for future references, how do you guys feel about sex scenes? Would you prefer details, or timeskips? Let me know in a review, and also let me know how you feel about these past few chapters!**


	20. Secrets

**~Hazel POV~**

* * *

I kept my eyes on the mirror as someone rapped on the door lightly, Nita turning her head towards it.

"Come in!" she shouted, pulling the straightener through my hair once more. Troy wrinkled his nose as he stepped into the room, a smile spreading across Nita's face as he took in her work on my hair.

"When are you gonna stop doing that?" he complained, pulling on one of the few remaining curls as he sat down at my feet, his back resting against the vanity. "You're killing it."

"We're making it _prettier,_" Nita corrected him sternly, snapping the straightener at him. "Straight hair looks better on her."

"You're trying to make her look like you." Troy grumbled.

"Now why would I do that when I can look like anybody I choose?" Nita countered, smirking as her face began to shift. Her entire form seemed to shimmer for a moment before a copy of Troy was sitting behind me in her place, every detail mimicked to perfection. I nearly jumped out of my skin as she laughed at us, Troy's eyes nearly bugging out of his head.

"What the Hell…"

"What's wrong Cupcake," Troy's voice came from Nita's lips, and for a moment I felt my heart thudding twice as hard in my chest. "Scared?"

"You're like that hot girl from X-Men," Troy murmured, poking at the copy of his leg that was actually hers. "Do you turn blue in your true form?"

Nita rolled her eyes as her skin shimmered again, her regular image returning. She rolled back her slender shoulders and repositioned herself behind me with the straightener, batting her dark eyes innocently.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said slyly, pulling through more of my locks. "X-Men is for Mundanes."

"Oh bullshit," Troy griped. "Half of us didn't even come from Angelic Blood, you know tha-"

"Wait what?" I interrupted, my eyes flickering to his. It was the only thing that had torn my gaze from the mirror all night. "What do you mean you don't come from Angelic blood? All Shadowhunters come from Angelic Blood."

"No we don't," Troy scoffed, knitting his eyebrows at me. "Where the Hell have you been, kiddo?"

"In a pit of eels." I grumbled. Troy and Nita laughed, a smile forming on my own face reluctantly.

"Seriously though, who told you all Shadowhunters were Angelically born? Haven't you ever heard of the Infernal Cup?"

"Yeah," I murmured, fiddling with my thumbs. "But I also heard that people who drink from it rarely survive."

"Maybe that's because your people are dumbasses and don't know how to do it right." Nita grumbled, pursing her lips.

"Hey!"

"I'm serious!" she shouted. "Different covens have different ways of doing it. Most of the people at this school are like orphans, you know? Creto would go around the city streets and find kids who didn't have any place to go. They had no ties, you know? Like no family, so we weren't really held back by anything and could do whatever we wanted."

"Why would Creto help orphans?" I asked skeptically, my nose wrinkling as Troy laughed lightly at my expression.

"Cause he was one," Nita said matter-of-factly. "Honestly, didn't they already tell you all of this back in La-La-Land?"

"Where exactly do you think I came from?" I asked incredulously.

"The Institute," Troy answered proudly. "Home of the traitor angels."

"What?" I laughed. Troy's face fell.

"Home of the traitor angels," he repeated. "Just like ours, you guys have Training Houses all over the world, but you came from America. You guys came from the Fallen Ones and when our people threatened to expose you, you got all pissy."

"What the Hell are you talking about?"

"Fallen Angels...you know...traitors of God...sidekicks of the Greater Demons...Come on! Your angels were in Cahoots with the Greater Demons and then tried to blame it on Creto when they got caught!"

"I have...no idea what you're talking about."

Troy and Nita exchanged worried looks, a crease forming between my own eyebrows as I tried to comprehend what they were saying. Nita lowered the straightener onto her lap slowly, looking at me.

"Hazel," she said quietly. "Where exactly did you come from?"

"I came from the Institute!" I reassured them. "But we're not followers of the 'Traitor Angels' or whatever the Hell you called them. We're the children of Raziel, he's the one who invented the Mortal Cup and if you drink an Angels blood from it you become a Shadowhunter."

"That's all that they told you?"

"Where did _you _come from?" I countered, my eyes flickering between both of them. Troy shrugged his shoulders.

"We came from the Inner Angels, just like you did. Ithuriel, Raziel, Michael…we're the children of the Fallen Angels. When you turn sixteen the Clave has you sent he-"

"The Clave?" I demanded, shooting out of my seat. Nita raised her hands in defense as I backed away from them, my palms glowing. "What the Hell do you mean the CLAVE has you sent here?"

"Calm down!" Troy demanded, eying my hands. "The Clave, they run this Institute, Creto's the Dominus Inquisitor and there's six people on the Council, but there's only six of us that were born like this."

"Explain," I hissed, my temper flaring wildly. The anger that had risen in my stomach was surprising even to me, I had never been a particularly calm person, but my temper had never been this volatile. "Now."

"Alright, alright, chill out," Troy said softly, rising to his feet slowly. He held his hands out to me, although I refused to take either. "There 's only six of us in this Institute that were born of Angelic Blood. When we turned sixteen, our parents, who make up our Clave, they had us drink from the Infernal Cup to solidify our gifts and to pledge our allegiance to Creto's cause. It was just a sort of ceremony, really. The rest of the kids here, well they were orphans or came from bad homes and some of them tried to drink and they died."

"So what's the difference between you and the rest of the gifted kids here?"

"Well…that's the thing, we don't really know. Sometimes we hear Creto talking about it but we rarely get to see our parents if we ever do. "

"This is wrong…." I murmured, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "Oh God, this is all wrong. What are the names? I need the six last names of the Infernal families."

"Why does it-"

"Just tell me the God damn names!" the shouting came out of me before I could stop it, my palms exploding into momentary flames before the room was cold again. The anger was there and gone in a second, and my heart rate picked up, fear filling me. What the Hell was happening to me?

"Julius," Troy started. "My name is Troy Julius. Julius, Penhallow, Blackwell, Pontmercy, Morgenstern, an-"

"WHO'S READY TO PARTY?!"

Everyone turned their heads towards the bedroom door as Stasi swung it wide open, hot pink tinsel and glitter littering her extensions as she grinned at us. By the look of her, she was already tipsy, leaning against the doorframe for support. All the anger that had mustered up inside of me diminished at the idea of a drink. Stasi began shouting orders as she shuffled through my wardrobe, Brooke and Haley following in after her with a mountain of clothes. Nita pulled me to the side slightly, Troy still eying me warily as he left the room without another word.

"Don't worry about anything he said, okay?" Nita whispered, sitting me back down in front of the vanity and starting up the straightener once more. "You're one of us now, Hazel. We've taught you more than they have. We love you more than they do."

"Don't say that!" I hissed, conflict rising in my stomach. In a sense, this was beginning to feel like home, and it made me sick. Who was I to betray the people who had unveiled all of who I really was? The Institute back home had given me answers I'd always dreamt of.

_Then again, you didn't really give them a choice…_I thought bitterly to myself. _You went searching for those answers on your own and could've found them without them. It's your fate._

"It's true," Nita shrugged, pulling at the remainder of my curls. "Didn't you say one of those kids stabbed you?"

"It was an accident," I answered automatically, trying to shake the haze out of my mind. "They're not the ones who threw me in a giant fish tank."

"It's a GAME," Nita sighed exasperatedly. "We all have to go through this whether we like it or not, it's not like you're on your own. And no offense, but you were kind of a pussy when you first got here. Did you see what happened in that arena? You blew up that clock like it was nothing! It's gotta be one of the craziest gifts I've ever seen. You might not have ever found out how strong you can be if we didn't push you to it."

"You keep saying 'we' as if these people aren't trying to kill you too."

"_These people _aren't trying to kill me," she retorted, set in her ways. "These people are trying to push me to my full potential. They're trying to help me reach Greatness or die trying. I don't know," she sighed. "Maybe Shadowhunters are raised differently back home….but here, we're taught to be tougher than that. "

"I am tough." I grumbled. She didn't hear me.

"Look at all these," she mused, brushing her fingertips across a few of the scars on my back. "These look like they belong to a warrior. A REAL warrior. Where'd you get them from? Tripping over your ballet shoes?"

"Most of those came from here," I said flatly, watching her in the mirror as she straightened my last few curls. "That one…." I reached behind me and brushed my fingers across the dark brown mark that stretched across my right shoulder blade and down the back of my ribcage. "That one is a burn."

"How'd you get it?" Nita asked quietly, her voice softer as she rested the straightener in her lap. I stared at her in the mirror for a hard few seconds. "You can tell me," she said, half-laughing nervously. She shrugged her shoulders. "It's just that no one here really knows who you are. We know what we see, and that's not much unless it has to deal with you trying to stay alive. So go. You can tell me."

I sighed, letting my eyes drift down to the mess of makeup on the vanity in front of me.

"It came from an iron," I murmured, my voice cracking slightly. I cleared my throat and tried again. "It came from an iron. Like the kind you make clothes look nice with. When I was seven, I was in this foster home, I ended up staying for four years, but that's…I mean it's kinda irrelevant-anyways- I uhm…" I was stuttering, my jaw clenching every time I closed my mouth to pause. "I broke one of my foster Dad's Xbox games, and he got really mad, and he was ironing his clothes when I told him and he told me to take my shirt off and turn around and I thought-you know I was just a kid- I thought I'd get a spank or something but he burned me."

I let the words resonate for a moment, as if saying them out loud for the first time in my life made them more real.

"He…yeah, he just…burned me. And I tried to run, and the iron sort of slid down my back a little and that's why it looks so long, like a long streak."

I looked up at the mirror again, my eyes meeting Nita's sad ones as she touched the scar lightly.

"I'm really sorry, Haze," she murmured. "I shouldn't have said all that stuff abou-"

"Yeah you should have," I said quickly, dropping my hand and sittnig a little straighter. "You should have. I needed to hear it. There's no sense in acting like a child all the time, you know, whining and stuff. I'm better than that. I'm stronger than that, I need to act like it. I need to grow up."

"Don't take what I said the wrong way," Nita shot quickly. "Trust me we all know you've been through some shit just by what we've seen but…I mean none of us ever thought….we didn't know you'd been through _that _kind of shit…"

"No one knows, so don't tell, okay?" I asked simply, desperate to change the subject. Nita nodded her head furiously, falling into the trio of girls that had invaded the room and pecked through the clothes like a madwoman, trying to shake the memory I'd just given her as if it were her own.

I watched myself in the mirror for a little while longer as Staci staggered up behind me, holding my shoulders and resting her head on my arm.

"You look different." She stated simply, eying my newly slimmed frame. I bit my fat bottom lip, silently wondering why I couldn't have been gifted with a wider mouth instead of a slimmer waist as she watched me.

"Good different?"

"Mmmmm…." She narrowed her eyes at me for a moment, studying. "Yeah. You're smaller. You look like a total babe though, with your new cheekbones and all," she gripped my face and I gave her a look. "I do like it, I do, I do," she continued mumbling drunkenly.

"You're already buzzed and the party hasn't even started. "I laughed."

"Are you kidding?!" she cried, throwing her hands up into the air. "This place is ALWAYS a party! We wouldn't know that because nine times out of ten we're fighting for our lives in here, but now that we're freaking CHAMPIONS I say we blow this shit up!"

I watched her as she grinned lazily, wondering why I should feel guilty at all for finally being happy. So what if they weren't exactly best friends with my old ones? These people, their government, they were all just as confused as we were, and it wasn't fair that I should isolate myself and refuse to have a little fun just because some might see it as wavering loyalty.

"So," she whispered, raising her eyebrows at me. "How many rules do we get to break tonight?"

I pulled a pair of leather skinny jeans from the bed, Nita tossing me a matching thigh-high stiletto. I grinned.

"As many as we possibly can."


	21. Feeling

**Dev-Bass Down Low (KMills Remix)**

**M.I.A-Bad Girls (Nonsens Remix)**

**Lana Del Rey-Young And Beautiful(HugLife Trap Remix)**

**Zack Hemsey- See What I've Become**

* * *

I was already bobbing my head to the swell of the music before we'd even reached the courtyard, the noise echoing off of the stone campus.

"How is it that we've never noticed all this damn music?" I laughed, adrenaline rushing through my body as we made our way to the crowd.

"We were always either passed out or fighting for our lives, remember?" Troy grinned, nudging me. I rolled my eyes at him, jumping slightly as Zane shoved his way through the crowd and stopped directly in front of me. He grinned as if we'd been best friends for years, a microphone in one hand as usual as his piercings glinted off of the light. Zane gripped one of my hands tight and thrust it into the air, intertwined with his.

"AND HERE ARRIVES OUR TOP INITIATE!"

The crowd screamed wildly, everyone grinning and popping bottles of liquor in the air as red and white and blue and green and wildly vivid lights danced across our faces. I ripped my hand from Zane's a little too harshly, waving to the crowd on my own. Zane scowled at me for my lack of sportsmanship as I pulled the microphone from his hands, slinging my free arm around Troy's shoulder.

"I could hardly be top without my Team, let's be honest here. We've got a whole crew full of great gifts, and they've saved my ass more times than I've been able to count, can you give it up for them?!" I shouted excitedly. Everyone roared again, Troy beaming along with the rest of our team as Thomas kissed Staci full on the lips, earning a surprised look from her.

Zane snatched his microphone back as everyone went back to their partying, twisting and dancing and kissing and drinking and laughing as if we wouldn't all be fighting for our lives again tomorrow morning.

"You could at least _pretend _like your one of us," Zane grumbled, smirking at me. "I know I'm not your favorite guy but the more you cozy up to me the more this crowd will love you."

"Thanks," I fired back, shrugging him off of me. "But I'm sure I can manage just fine on my own." Zane gripped the crook of my elbow tightly as I tried to move away from him, pulling me so close my face was only inches from his.

"Not everyone here wants you dead, alright? Now I understand you're some born-again sassypants lady, but an attitude adjustment isn't gonna ensure that you make it out alive. You were there, you saw hat no matter how much you think Creto favors you, he won't hesitate to let you die. If you don't make it out, it's your own fault. He holds you responsible."

"You're a fucking _maniac._" I said harshly, surprised by my own bold attitude as I invaded his space. Zane raised his eyebrows at me in surprise before a smile began creeping at his lips. He came even closer, so close that I could smell the mint vodka on his breath.

"Yeah," he said softly, eying me. "But a maniac who's betting on your survival."

I watched him as he walked away, fading off into the crowd and making his way back to the stage where the DJ was flipping records so quickly I could barely watch.

"What was that all about?" Troy asked in my ear. I shrugged, watching as a ridiculously tall, green-skinned girl with flaming red hair and a pointy ears filtered through the crowd holding a tray of drinks.

"Who cares?" I shouted over the music, grabbing three bottles off the tray and handing one to Troy. "Just drink!"

I downed the entire thing within seconds, wrinkling my nose at the hard, sour taste that washed over my mouth and burned my stomach. Troy raised his eyebrows at me, grinning.

"Where the Hell did that come from?" he laughed, sipping his own. I rolled my eyes at him, flipping my hair dramatically.

"I've been drinking since I was fourteen," I admitted, somewhat shamefully. I shrugged, scoffing at my trainwreck of a childhood. "Had my first drink after I learned I was switching foster homes again, took three down and I never stopped since."

"You know they say that's really unhealthy," Staci cut in, her big black eyes wide with drunken concern. "I read in a book once that drinking to solve your problems can lead to addiction, and a never-ending life of alcohol consumption."

"One could only hope." I grinned darkly, downing the second drink. Nita laughed hysterically, clapping me hard on the back as Wheat and his friends made his way towards us.

"Where has this Hazel been all my life?" Staci cheered excitedly, chugging a fruity margarita.

Wheat had three different cases of liquor in his hands, the neon lights flashing brilliantly against his dark skin as he shoved his way towards us, Brooke, Haley, Kyle, and Taz all in tow. My breath hitched the second I saw the youngest of them all, the Sanskrit letters wrapping around his upper arm in black ink just like I'd seen in the crowd last Elimination.

"Holy shit," I breathed, grabbing him by the shirt collar and slinging him towards me. "That was _you _in the crowd that night."

"Yeah," Taz said awkwardly, eying me like I was a madwoman. "You were staring at me for like ten minutes straight."

"Sorry," I murmured, releasing him immediately and shaking my head, pulling several drinks out of one of Wheat's cases as he hit on Nita absentmindedly. "I just...I don't know, I thought you were somebody else."

"Who'd you think he was?" Troy asked quietly as everyone began dancing and dispersing. I took in a quarter of the vodka I'd taken from Wheat in one swig, clearing my throat afterwards.

"My real Dad," I muttered, taking another quick swig. "I thought he was my Dad."

I had finished the vodka bottle within twenty minutes, the warm haze of intoxication washing over me as I swiveled my hips left and right to the beat of the music, losing myself within the crowd. I threw my head back, a bottle of Grey Goose in one hand and the other running through my hair, my entire body filled with heat and warmth as the sea of people swayed around me. It was the first time in months that I felt like I was back at home, as if none of this nonsense had ever happened and it was Friday night at a Trap party.

A boy pressed up against my back, his hands finding my thighs and sliding their way up to my ribcage as he nuzzled the side of my neck, rocking his body with mine. I grinned to myself, a new sense of warmth spreading up the middle of my chest as I rolled against him, biting my lip with the raw _feeling _of what we were doing. That's all this was. A _feeling. _

Logically, it wouldn't make sense to grind up against someone you know, to smile at them like you had something coming for them later that night, to press your lips against the side of their neck or let them run their hands up your body. But I didn't want to think anymore. I'd spent my entire life thinking. I'd spent my entire life _calculating. _Always on the move, always trying to protect myself from whatever pervert foster father I'd landed in the hands of. Always trying to ignore the fact that half of my foster moms had been alcoholics or addicted to cocaine.

Like the kids in middle school hadn't made fun of me for being so skinny when they had no idea that it was because I couldn't afford to eat. Like I hadn't spent most of my time feeding off of male attention I had no business trying to get from the boys at school. Like I wasn't the most confidently insecure human being on this planet with a boatload of baggage and emotional damage toting behind me everywhere I went.

I leaned back against the strange boy before rolling against his body so that we were chest to chest, learning he was a good foot and a half taller than me.

_At least he's cute..._I thought to myself, smirking lazily. He was extremely attractive actually, to say the least, with a thick, chiseled jaw and skin only two shades lighter than mine. He had a short, slightly pointed elf nose, with a thin upper lip but fuller bottom. His hair was a dirty blonde that swept over his forehead in thick waves, his bright blue eyes locked on mine and glowing with a vibrancy that seemed inhuman. They were a neon blue, electrifying and cold. The boy slid his hands down my waist, resting just above my hips as his eyes locked on mine, freezing me.

All the heat rushed out of my body at once. It was like ice trickling through my veins, goosebumps rising all along my arms and legs as we watched each other, waiting for God-Knows-What. I was stuck in that moment with the music humming dully in the back of my mind, so entranced by this beautiful boy's eyes that I couldn't think, let alone move. He looked just as startled as I was, his mouth falling open slowly as his entire body went rigid as if he were afraid to move.

A few people with no shirts and Indian hats shoved past us, clapping the boy hard on the shoulder.

"Top Initiate, eh? Way to get it, Casper!" He paid them no attention, his expression never changing once as he continued to watch me.

"Casper." I whispered, my voice barely audible. He heard me clearly, as if we were the only two people that existed on the face of this planet.

"Cas." he murmured. I almost shivered. I couldn't name it. Never in my life had anyone ever given me goosebumps, had made me feel so solid and bitterly _real. _I was so aware of my own body, my own movements, and it was nothing I had ever experienced. When I was warm, it was like bleeding into the world, blending with everything and everyone around you. I never thought a boy could freeze my senses likes this. I never thought such a man existed. Yet here he was, this stranger, making me feel as though every move I made could bring the Earth to it's knees.

Before I knew what I was doing I stretched up on my tip-toes, sliding my arms around his neck and my fingers into his hair. His lips hovered over mine for a moment, our breath visible in the air. _What the Hell was this?_ The skin of my mouth brushed against his for a split-second, so lightly it almost hurt, both of us nearly shivering at the sensation before I kissed him full on the mouth.

There was a new feeling in my stomach, it was burning, the type I'd been feeling ever since I started practicing my gift. It was a heat that rose in the pit of me anytime I felt something extraordinary, whether it be anger or fear or sadness or _lust. _It exploded inside of me, only to be snuffed out by Cas' freezing touch, his hands roaming my shoulders and back as his lips moved with mine, the both of us enveloped in this wild and unearthly sensation.

It was like kissing your wildest dream and your greatest fear all at the same time, so exciting and dangerous that you couldn't help but revel in the adrenaline of it all.

Minutes passed. Maybe hours, or days, but after awhile I was tugging him through the crowd, my senses overwhelming my logic with the help of all the liquor I'd taken through the night. I wanted him. I needed him. I barely knew him, but I had to take him. He needed to be mine. I had to feel more of..._whatever it was _that was coursing through my veins a million miles a minute. We pulled away from the crowd, breaking out of it and spilling into a dark corridor where I pressed him against the freezing stone wall, locking my mouth with his for a few extra minutes before tugging him along again.

We rounded a corner, the sound of shouting breaking me free of my blissful yet exciting haze. Anastasia was pressed against the wall, tears streaming down her red, blotchy, face. Her extensions were hanging loose, the rest of her locks flying wildly around her face as Thomas screamed at her, his voice so loud his words were barely audible. He swung his arm, his open palm catching her clear across the cheek as she cried louder.

Fury rose in me like a cheetah taking off, so quick that Thomas barely had time to react as my palms exploded, Cas shouting and dropping my hand like a hot potato. I grabbed Thomas by the back of his shirt, a new and unknown strength revving inside of me as I threw him against the stone, his body hitting it so harshly it cracked behind him. He struggled underneath my flaming hold, my knee coming up and jamming right between his legs. Thomas groaned as I dropped him, his knees hitting the ground as Cas moved around me and grabbed him.

"Take care of her," He said, his voice low but stern. "I'll deal with him."

I didn't want to leave him. I knew it was a stupid thing to feel, especially for someone I'd just met, but Cas reached out and squeezed my hand before giving me one last look and dragging Thomas down the corridor. I turned back to Staci, surprised by her angry expression. She shoved my free hand off of her face before pushing me.

"Look at what you did!" She screamed, causing me to jump. "He's never going to talk to me again!"

"Staci he HIT YOU!" I shouted, pushing her back. She pressed her had to her forehead, heaving in sigh after sigh as she sank to the floor.

"I HATE YOU!" she yelled into her palms. I was unsure of whether it was directed to me, or Thomas, or maybe even herself. "I hate you, I hate you, my God..."

"Staci," I said softly, trying to hold her again as she continued pushing me. "Anastasia I'm sorry, okay? Just please let me take you back to your room, okay? You're drunk, you just need to-"

"I hate you!" she sobbed quieter, leaning her forehead against my chest. "You got us into this!" she cried.

I froze, staring at the wall behind her. "Everything was fine before you came! You led them to us! Creto came for us because of you! Look at that boy that took my boyfriend! Who was he? You were all over him like you've just FORGOT about Jamie!"

"Staci-"

"Don't lie!" she shouted. "Troy, Jamie, Zane, whoever the FUCK that was...You can't lie to me, I'm too smart for it! Jamie has never cared about someone like that and judging by what you've told me, neither have you! What is that boy? Just another one-night-stand? Just another boy you'll sleep with and tear apart! You USE people, Hazel, you USE them because YOU DON'T FEEL ANYTHING, AND YOU DON'T CARE THAT THEY DO! And now Thomas won't ever talk to me again and I just...I..."

"Shh." I murmured softly, wrapping her into my arms as she sobbed some more. I waited, nearly twenty minutes going by before she passed out drunk on my chest. "Good God."

I heaved her to her feet, half carrying, half dragging her down the corridors and to Nita's room. All of that "magic strength" I'd mustered up only a short while ago seemed to just disappear out of thin air. _How convenient. _I thought bitterly to myself, dumping her onto Nita's bed and tucking her in. Every wonderful feeling that I'd experienced through the night vanished with Staci's speech of me being unable to feel.

She was right. I was a user. What exactly had I planned on doing with Cas, anyways?

_You were going to sleep with him, dumbass. _I thought idly.

How messed up could I get? How many other girls just slept with whomever they pleased, whenever they pleased, and were able to walk around the next day without said person crossing their minds even once? Who else acted like that?

_You should start a club, _my thoughts answered darkly. _A club for all the fucked up teenagers in the world that like to do all the things that damage their soul even further than it already is. _

I dragged my feet down the long, dark corridors, feeling empty as ever when I reached my bedroom door, freezing as I shut it behind me. The room was pitch black, my hand still on the knob and my back still towards the room as a few books cluttered to the floor behind me. My entire body went on red-alert, adrenaline pumping through my body on the fly just like I'd been trained. I eyed the Heroit blade on my nightstand and snatched it up, muttering the demon's name under my breath as I flipped on the light and whirled around. The metal shot out of the hilt, the tip of it resting just underneath the boy's chin as he stared at me wide-eyed, his hands raised in defense.

The entire world seemed to fall out from underneath me at once.

Out of everyone, why him? Why now? I had never felt more excited and grateful and disappointed and hateful all at once in my entire life, and all because of him. I forgot how to breathe for a few moments. I forgot how to move.

Even if he made a move to kill me, or touch me, or save me, I wouldn't be able to react. Not in this state. Not like this.

He looked at me with his large green-gold eyes, his mouth falling open slightly as if he were to speak. He was just as startled as I was.

I was going be sick. I was going to cry. I was going to scream.

I was going to faint. I was going to kill him.

There was only one thing that was able to slip out of my mouth, my voice barely audible in the room as I watched him.

A tear slid down the boy's flushed cheek, something I'd never thought I'd see in a million years.

"_Jamie."_

* * *

**OHHHHH MYYYY GOOODNESS :O**

**What's going through your guys' minds right now?!**

**Also, just wanted to let you know. Jamie looks like Drew Roy. Cas looks like Jeremy Sumpter. Let us all take a moment of silence for extremely hot boys, yes?**


	22. Here

**Zack Hemsey-The Way**

* * *

Jamie was watching me wide-eyed, the tip of my Heroit blade still pressing underneath his chin as my entire body started to shake.

"Jamie." I whispered again, my fingertips trembling. He was at a loss for words.

"You got so skinny," he murmured, looking at me like I was an orphaned child. "Your eyes and...and ..Your hair...how come you straightened your hair?"

"That's all you have to say?!" I whisper-cried, my eyes blazing with fury.

"I..I-" he tried.

"No," I breathed, water welling up in my eyes. I hated to cry in front of anyone but at this moment I could barely breathe, let alone control my emotions. "This isn't real. This is..."

I glanced around the room, waiting for someone to jump out and scream that I was being Punk'd. "It's a dream."

"It's a not a dream," Jamie said quickly, his voice cracking. "Hazel I know-"

"No," I wailed, the both of us talking over each other rapidly. "No, no, no-"

"-Know I haven't been here, I know it took me so long and I'm sorry, I'm so so-"

"Stay away from me!" I shouted, pressing the blade harder against his neck as he tried to move towards me. Jamie's bottom lip quivered and he chewed on it to keep from sobbing, his face a bright red as his fingernails dug into his palms.

"This isn't real!" I screamed. "None of this is real!"

"Hazel I'm so-"

"Where have you been?!" I screamed, the Heroit blade shaking in my grip. "What...Where have you..._oh my God_!"

"I'm sorry alright? Listen to me, I'm sorry I just need you to lis-"

His words were becoming a blur, the entire room shaking rapidly as heat swelled up in the pit of my stomach, a thousand emotions running through me at once.

I had never been so shocked. I was glad, my God I was glad to see him. It was like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time and all I wanted to do was become lost in his light. Here he was, after months of praying for him, he'd found me, he'd come to me.. but I'd planned this moment in my head a thousand times, yet I felt so unprepared.

I had never felt so wounded. Where had he been? What had taken him so long? Had he ever planned on finding me at all? I wanted to know why he hadn't jumped after me the second he knew we were missing. I wanted to know why I had been left to my own devices, in some God-forsaken school for the demonically allegiant.

I was emotionally unstable. I was a raging river and he was an iceberg, structured and unmoving and strong and he had left me here without him and without help. Creto's school had taught me strength and self-preservation and to be brave without second thought, all of those lessons flying out the window as I watched this boy stumble over his own words in front of me as if I was someone he actually _loved,_ and I knew then that there was only one reason he had come for me.

_Because he did love me. _

He could never know who I really was. He could never explore the depths of my shattered mind and dirty, littered past. He could never know what my intentions were when left to my own impulses, my own pure, raw instinct. Just half an hour ago I was grinding on someone, fantasizing about the moment I'd get them into my bedsheets, and who would want a girl like that? Who would want someone so damaged and emotionally unable to care for anything or anyone but herself?

The Heroit Blade nearly slipped out of my grip and I tightened it immediately, pressing it against his throat again.

Jamie looked like he hadn't slept in years. His golden-green eyes were rimmed red with months of tears and lost loved ones, his usually tanned skin looked pale. He looked like he hadn't eaten much at all, his already lean frame looking closer to just plain skinny than fit. He was biting down so hard on his lower lip that it had begun to bleed lightly, and he was clenching his jaw so hard that I could only imagine his teeth grinding together as he spoke through them.

"Please," he begged, leaving one hand raised in the air defensively as he rubbed his face with the other, trying to sober up and gather his thoughts. "Please Baby just listen to me-"

"I'M NOT YOUR BABY!" I screamed. The toes of my shoes caught fire, the temperature rising in the room to a good ninety degrees as my anger rose to a boil.

"YOU ARE!" Jamie screamed back, knocking the sword out of his face and trying to step closer once more. My free palm began blazing and I shoved it out in front of me, raising the Heroit Blade to his face in a challenge to come closer.

"I'll do it!" I screamed. I was unsure of whether or not I was lying, but I hoped it didn't show. Jamie's face fell, distress washing over his features. My tone became even and deadly, barely a whisper as I warned him again. "Come any closer, and I will kill you."

"You have to listen to me." He repeated, putting one hand on his chest as if he were trying to keep himself together.

"Listen?!" I laughed humorlessly, tears rolling down my cheeks as I sucked in heavy breath after heavy breath, the flames rising up my arm. The nightstand to my left caught fire.

"Look at me!" Jamie yelled, restraining from trying to come forward again. "Just...Hazel, will you look at me please? Please?" I looked at him reluctantly, trying to keep my lip from quivering. Jamie bit his bottom one again. "If you don't..If you don't calm down this whole place is gonna go down in flames okay?"

"Who says I care?" I shot.

"I know you do." he whispered.

"I hate you," I breathed. "I hate you."

"Girls only say that to people they care about."

"No," I argued, Jamie nodding his head. "No."

"_Yes."_

"_Talk,"_I hissed dangerously. "_Before I cut your fucking head off." _Jamie laughed, and it was odd to see him smile for that moment with tears streaming down his red cheeks.

"And here I thought you couldn't get any meaner than when I first met you." he murmured.

"Speak now!"

"Hazel I didn't know," he croaked. "I didn't know they were gonna take you."

There were so many things wrong with this picture. Jamie Lightwood, the Greatest Shadowhunter of All Time to be, conqueror of women, fearless warrior, the Chosen Orphan that would save us all...crying. Tearing up, choking on his words when he was able to find them, fiddling with his own hands like a madman, a child at his wits-end. He looked absolutely, and utterly alone. He looked frightened. He did not look like a warrior. _He looked like a boy._

"I started looking for you the second we found out you were gone but Pluemon, he put Byron under some kind of enchantment-" he wiped his nose on the back of his hand and tried to blink the tears out of his beautiful eyes. "And so the Clave decided to put your search on hold and we know it's important, we all knew, Heaven, and Lucy, and Aaron- Even D-Darren misses you and we've all been looking and it's been _Hell _without you," he sobbed.

"Lucy and Heaven they just can't keep it together and Heaven's Dad still doesn't know that she loves her and Lucy might like boys and Aaron's infatuated with Johanna but her parents can't stand him and I've tried sleeping with three different girls to get you out of my head and I'm _sorry," _he was nearly wailing, gritting his teeth together, speaking through them like it pained him to say the words as he ran his fingers through his hair over and over again.

I was crying as he spoke, the flames all around my body drawing back into my skin slowly as I gripped the flaming nightstand to keep myself upright. The fire was seeping back into my bones, off of the charred wood, off of the floor, away from my fingertips. The fiery fury within me was being replaced with a deep, hollow sadness that I couldn't shake off as I watched this boy pour his heart out to me. It was the only thing that made me realize I had one too.

"None of them meant anything and it never worked because _I love you-"_

"Stop!" I cried, shaking my head as the blade wobbled slightly_, _I pressed the heel of my free palm against my eye, trying to stifle the tears but it wasn't working.

"I do!" Jamie yelled back. "I do love you, _so much_, and I'm so sorry it took me so long, I'm so sorry I left you here and let them take you and made you feel like this and my God-" he was running out of air as he threw a hand towards me before running it over his face. "My God what have they done to you? You're so small and you-God...my God, I'm so sorry. Hazel, look at me, I'm sorry."

"I'm not who you think I am," I groaned, shaking my head. "Jamie I'm not."

"You are."

"No," I breathed. "There is something _inside of me_ and I can feel it and I can't control it and _I am not the same."_

"I don't care," he said sharply, his left hand raising gingerly. I let his fingertips touch the tip of the blade lightly. "I don't care and I'm here. Hazel _I'm here."_

I had fought so hard, since I was young I had fought _so damn hard. _I was tired. I was beaten down. I was worn. I was weary. The pit of my soul was a mix of emotions that God himself wouldn't know what to do with, and here was my saving grace, standing like a broken angel in the middle of my Not-Real-Bedroom, crying his eyes out for _me, _as if I were special, as if I mattered, as if I were worthy of it. Jamie pushed the sword away from his face and I let it clatter to the ground, my will shrinking into nothing as he closed the space between us.


End file.
